PIZER'S ANNOTATED VCAT ACT 3rd Edition
About the author   |   Reviews on the Third Edition   |   Recent VCAT developments   |  Buying a copy   |   Links

The VCAT is a significant part of the Victorian legal system. In fact, the VCAT's former President - Justice Stuart Morris - has said that "the VCAT has now emerged as the principal jurisdiction for the resolution of mainstream civil disputes in Victoria".

The third edition of Pizer’s Annotated VCAT Act was published by JNL Nominees Pty Ltd in mid-2007. The book is an invaluable resource for anyone who has to go to the VCAT. It contains:

• an overview of the VCAT;
• a full copy of the VCAT Act, the VCAT Regulations and the VCAT
   Rules; and
• extensive commentary on the practice and procedure of the VCAT.

Portable, practical and providing authoritative guidance on the workings of the VCAT, the third edition of Pizer’s Annotated VCAT Act is a "must have" for the VCAT user.



About the author

Jason Pizer is a barrister at the Victorian Bar. He practises in the areas of administrative law and commercial law. For more information about the author, click here.

 

 



Reviews on the Third Edition

From time to time, a legal textbook becomes so well known in its particular area of expertise that practitioners in that area refer to it simply by the name of its author. Archbold and Fleming come to mind. Jason Pizer’s “Pizer’s Annotated VCAT Act” is rapidly approaching that iconic status. “Who’s taken my Pizer?” or “It’s in Pizer at page …” is the type of remark frequently heard in the hearing rooms and corridors of VCAT. And now this well-known text is in its third edition.

At the heart of every VCAT hearing are the provisions of the VCAT Act. Each year important rulings are made concerning those provisions. Amendments come into effect. New jurisdictions are conferred on VCAT. How do the many people affected, the practitioners and the decision-makers keep abreast of the latest developments? At least one answer lies in having a well-researched, comprehensive, intelligible and up-to-date text. The third edition of Pizer is such a book.

[It] ... really is an astonishing piece of research.

Judge John Bowman, VCAT Vice President

Pizer’s Annotated VCAT Act is an absolutely essential resource for anyone practising at VCAT. One could, without fear of hyperbole, go further, and say that a practitioner would be at a positive disadvantage without it, so frequently and authoritatively is it referred to by the Tribunal and its clientele alike as the bible of that bailiwick. …

VCAT disposes of more than 80,000 cases annually and that number is increasing. After the Magistrates’ Court it is the busiest jurisdiction in Victoria and may well exceed the latter court in its civil dispute resolution. It follows from this statistic alone that the potential for significant rulings emanating from VCAT is substantial. What this book does is to locate those relevant authorities precisely on point to the matter at hand and organise and arrange them in a manner which practitioners consulting the Act will find useful, indeed invaluable. Even a cursory glance at this third edition reveals considerable refinements of great utility to the practitioner creating a resource which is simultaneously easier to read and easier to locate the direct authority on point. …

Many of the current owners of a Pizer will be grateful for the arrival of a new edition if only on the basis that the earlier one is only hanging on by a thread, so well consulted have its pages been over the past triennium. If you have been putting off securing your own Pizer, or the chambers edition is exhorting retirement, now is the time to take the plunge.

Judy Benson, Victorian Bar

It’s the VCAT equivalent of Williams, the looseleaf ‘Bible’ of civil procedure in the state courts. … [I]t is a joy to use … It has serious traction with the members over there [at the VCAT]. It's full of intellectual grunt. … Care has been taken in the layout, and it has an unusually good index … [T]he statutory provisions are easily found and not buried in the commentary.
…
Many statutory tribunals share various characteristics, and the insightful, concise commentary in relation to those aspects of administrative law associated with statutory tribunals mean that this book would be valuable in the libraries of practitioners in other states...

Stephen Warne, Victorian Bar

It is more than simply a VCAT text. As an administrative law text it holds its own with the best on topics of broad application like natural justice and want of jurisdiction or power... It is a marvellous book. It is phenomenally detailed without being complicated.

Justice Chris Maxwell, President of the Court of Appeal

This work is both comprehensive and concise. ... The clear layout, the detailed but sensible index and extensive cross-referencing demonstrate the author’s skill as a barrister and a writer... Overall, this book is commendably easy to follow and user-friendly... The value of this work is that it makes VCAT’s procedures accessible to the thousands of ordinary Victorians who use the tribunal each year.

Bill Swannie, VCAT Associate

 



Recent VCAT Developments

Current as at 27 September 2008

The third edition of Pizer’s Annotated VCAT Act went to press in early May 2007. Since that time, the following developments have occurred:

1.

On 28 May 2007, the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 came into force. That Act inserted clause 2A into Schedule 1 to the VCAT Act. Clause 2A sets out how the VCAT is to be constituted for the purposes of a proceeding under Part 8 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006.

2.

On 27 June 2007, the Courts Legislation Amendment (Judicial Education and Other Matters) Act 2007 came into force. That Act: (a) amended section 30(2) of the VCAT Act so that the VCAT President and Vice Presidents are no longer jointly responsible for "directing the professional development and training of members", and (b) inserted section 38A into the VCAT Act, which relevantly provides that the VCAT President is "responsible for directing the professional development and continuing education and training of members".

3.

On 27 June 2007, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 came into force. That Act amended clause 46C(d) of Schedule 1 to the VCAT Act by replacing "Vice-President" with "Vice President".

4.

On 1 July 2007, the Payroll Tax Act 2007 came into force. That Act amended the definition of "Taxing Act" in clause 2 of Schedule 1 to the VCAT Act by replacing "Pay-Roll Tax Act 1971" with "Payroll Tax Act 2007".

5.

On 1 July 2007, the VCAT (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 came into force. Those regulations amended the VCAT Regulations to provide for fees for the commencement of a VCAT proceeding under the Health Professions Registration Act 2005.

6.

In the last paragraph on page 64, it is submitted that the TAC's failure to make an impairment decision under section 46A of the Transport Accident Act 1986 cannot constitute a deemed decision under section 4(2)(d) of the VCAT Act. That submission is based on section 46A before it was amended by the Transport Accident (Amendment)
Act 2004.

7.

On 31 December 2007, the Owners Corporations Act 2006 came into force. That Act amended paragraph (g) of the definition of “planning enactment” in section 52(4) of the VCAT Act and in clause 2 of Schedule 1 to that Act. It also inserted clause 51AD into Schedule 1. That clause provides that the VCAT constituted by any member may make a declaration in a proceeding under the Owners Corporations
Act 2006.

8.

On 31 December 2007, the VCAT (Fees) (Further Amendment) Regulations 2007 came into force. Those regulations amended the VCAT Regulations to provide for fees for the commencement of a VCAT proceeding under the Owners Corporations Act 2006 and
the Subdivision Act 1988.

9.

On 19th February 2008, Justice Kevin Bell was appointed as the VCAT President for a two-year term, effective from 31 March 2008.

10.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rules 2008 commenced on 30 June 2008. They largely mirror the substance of the 1998 Rules, which they have replaced. Some of the old rules, however, have not found their way into the 2008 Rules (either in whole or in part), and those that have done so usually bear a different rule number. Further, some of the new rules do not have a counterpart in the 1998 Rules.

The following examples are probably the most significant:

• new rule 1.06 provides that the VCAT may dispense with compliance
   with any of the requirements of the 2008 Rules, either before or after
   the occasion for compliance arises;
• new rule 4.03(2) provides that the form required to make an
  application for review (Form 1) or to make an application for an order
  (Form 2) “may contain any necessary modifications”;
• new rule 4.10(2) limits the circumstances in which the VCAT may
  direct a party to submit to a medical, psychological or other
  examination by an expert;
• new rule 4.26(1) provides that the principal registrar, on the
  application of a party and with the consent of the other parties, may
  adjourn the hearing of a proceeding; and
• new rule 4.26(2) provides that the principal registrar may hear and
  determine an application by consent of the parties for adjournment or
  withdrawal of a proceeding before the hearing commences.

Finally, it should be noted that the Forms set out in Schedule 2 to the 2008 Rules do not all bear the same number as the equivalent Forms set out in Schedule 2 to the 1998 Rules, and that Forms 7A and 7B of the 1998 Rules (which were to be used when a person made an application under s 120 of the VCAT Act in a proceeding in the Civil Claims List) have not been replicated in the 2008 Rules.

You may wish to refer to Pizer, Victorian Administrative Law (which is a looseleaf service published by Lawbook Co) for an analysis of these and other VCAT-related developments since mid-2007.



Buying a copy

The book may be purchased for $130 (including GST) from:

• the VCAT Registry, Ground Floor, 55 King Street, Melbourne;
• the Law Institute Bookshop, 470 Bourke Street, Melbourne;
• Information Victoria, 505 Little Collins Street, Melbourne.

You may also buy a copy online from the Law Institute - click here.




Links

Law Institute of Victoria Bookshop - www.bookshop.liv.asn.au

VCAT home page - www.vcat.vic.gov.au

Vicbar website - www.vicbar.com.au