The Transport Appeal Boards

The Transport Appeal Boards (TAB) are independent bodies established under the Transport Appeal Boards Act 1980 (TAB Act). They are empowered to hear and determine appeals by employees of the New South Wales public sector transport Authorities against decisions to promote other employees to vacant positions.

When hearing an appeal a Board consists of three persons:

• a Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson (appointed by the Governor for a fixed term);
• an employer's representative nominated by the employer; and
• an employee's representative nominated by the union.

A Board must determine which employee is most entitled to appointment.

Chairperson:             J Parkin

Vice-Chairperson:     G Thompson

Employees who meet the essential qualifications required for the vacant position may have a right of appeal to a Board against the employer's decision to appoint another employee to it.

There is no right of appeal unless the position carries a maximum salary that is below the minimum salary for the position of Senior Officer Class 1.

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The only ground of appeal is that the appellant has greater merit than the employee selected.

The form of notice of appeal requires an appellant to set out particulars of the grounds relied upon to support the claim of greater merit.

• review your application for the position against the advertised criteria;
• speak with the Convenor or a member of the Selection Committee which considered your application to ascertain the reasons for your non-selection;
• if you consider that an error has been made and you are more entitled to the appointment, think carefully about the grounds upon which you would base an appeal;
• remember the decision whether to appeal is entirely your own. You should not be influenced by others in making this decision.

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• Complete the approved form of Notice of Appeal which should be available from Human Resources and union offices. Forms may also be obtained from the Registry and downloaded Notice of Appeal (pdf - 294kb).
• When completing the 'Notice of Appeal' form set out the grounds of your appeal with particular care. The Board will carefully examine your stated grounds and expect the conduct of your appeal to be consistent with them at the subsequent hearing.
• Ensure that the referees you nominate on the Notice are persons with current knowledge of your work performance.
• Contact the Registry for assistance if you have any questions about the appeal process.

The Notice of Appeal must be lodged in the Registry at Level 2, 1 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. It may be lodged personally or by post or facsimile (9020 4790).

The office hours of the Registry are from 9.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday inclusive.

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The Notice of Appeal must be lodged in the Registry within 21 DAYS after notice in writing of the decision to be appealed against is given to the appellant. Note that the Boards have no power to extend this statutory time limit. Remember that the Registry closes for business at 4.30pm daily. If you post or fax your Notice allow time for it to reach the Registry before the deadline.

The Secretary will send a copy of the Notice of Appeal to the employer.

When the time limit for lodging of appeals expires the appeal will be listed for mention before the Secretary and the parties will be notified of the mention date. Parties should attend or be represented at the mention proceedings. At the mention a hearing date for the appeal will be fixed. This will normally be approximately a further 2 to 4 weeks ahead. A notice of the date and time of hearing will then be sent to the parties to the appeal.

At the same time an Order will issue requiring the employer to prepare and lodge a written case outlining the selection process and the reasons for the decision the subject of the appeal. The case must include a copy of the applications for appointment to the position submitted by the appellant and the appointee.

Copies of the written case must be supplied to the Secretary and the employees who are parties to the appeal by a specific date, usually at least 7 days prior to the hearing.

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Your employer will be sent a copy of the Notice of Appeal.

Upon the expiration of the time allowed for the lodging of appeals, the Secretary will forward to you, care of the employer, a notice of the date and time set down for the mention of the appeal and a copy of the Notice of Appeal. Once a hearing date has been fixed the Secretary will forward you a copy of a notice of the date and time of the hearing. Usually at least 7 days before the hearing date you will be provided with a copy of the employer's written case. Contact the Registry for assistance if you have any queries.

Hearings are open to the public and the parties may be represented by a barrister, solicitor or agent. Such hearings are Court-like with witnesses giving evidence on oath and being subject to cross-examination. Usually the Convenor or a member of the Selection Committee, the appointee and the appellant are the only persons who give evidence.

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Convenor/Member of Selection Committee

Bring with you the file concerning the selection process and any other material which may be helpful to the Board in fully understanding the issues in the appeal. The Board will look to you as a resource person to clarify any matters of fact concerning the selection process which may be the subject of dispute at the hearing.  

Appellant and Appointee

•  Consider whether there is any additional material you wish to produce to the Board in support of your claim which was not included in your original application. Such material may have been unavailable at the time of application or may have since become relevant, e.g. by reason of the specific findings of a Selection Committee. If you produced any material to the Selection Committee which was returned to you by the Committee, this should also be produced to the Board.
• Remember that the Board will already have read your original application. Avoid presenting material which duplicates information contained in it.
• To facilitate proceedings at the hearing you should, prior to the hearing day, provide the Secretary with three copies of any additional material you wish to present. Other parties to the appeal should also be provided with a copy of the material. Please note the provision of sufficient copies is your responsibility. The Registry does not have the capacity to photocopy documents for you.
• If you receive additional material from another party you may submit material in reply. If time permits copies of such material in reply should also be provided to the other parties prior to the hearing.
• At the hearing you will be given the opportunity to comment in respect of the grounds of appeal. Consider the points you wish to make so that they can be clearly put to the Board. Having notes of the relevant matters to refer to will usually be of assistance.

An appeal may be withdrawn by an appellant at any time prior to the conclusion of the hearing.

If, prior to the hearing, an appellant decides to withdraw, notice of withdrawal must be IN WRITING. It must be signed by the appellant and lodged with the Secretary. This should be done immediately, by fax if possible, to avoid undue inconvenience to the employer, the appointee and the Board.

If an appellant decides to withdraw the appeal after the hearing has commenced, the Chairperson should be informed and the proceedings will be concluded.

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When you arrive for the hearing inform a staff member in the Registry of your attendance.

The Registry staff will assist you if you have any questions about the hearing process prior to the hearing.

Generally, the Convenor or a member of the Selection Panel is called to give evidence about the selection process that was followed.

The appointee is then called and may be asked questions, by the parties' representative or the Board, related to the position and their suitability for appointment to it.

Next, the appellant is then called to give evidence about their grounds for lodging the appeal and to substantiate their claim for having greater merit for appointment to the position in question.

Sometimes there may be more than one appointee or appellant. The evidence of the appointee(s) is always heard before the appellant(s) is called.

At the conclusion of the hearing the Board will adjourn to consider its decision.

The parties MUST, before leaving the Boards' premises, return any documents received from another party in respect of the appeal.

The Boards generally reach a decision on the day of the hearing. It may announce its decision directly to the parties involved or it may advise them to contact the Registry by telephone at a later time to ascertain the result.

It is the practice of the Boards to publish written reasons for decisions. These written reasons are usually forwarded to the parties by the Secretary within two weeks of the hearing.

The decision of a Board is final.

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