Appeal Proceedings

The Notice of Appeal ( 25 KB) (to lodge an appeal please download the PDF form and post it to the Independent Assessor), which commences the process, must state the grounds of the appeal, including why the applicant considers the decision is wrong, and the Notice must be accompanied by the prescribed fee - see schedule of fees ( 11 KB). Each party to an appeal must bear that party's own costs for the appeal.

Section 64P of the Prostitution Act 1999 provides that the Independent Assessor need not proceed in a formal way; is not bound by the rules of evidence but must comply with natural justice; and may inform him or herself in the way the Independent Assessor considers appropriate. The standard procedure requires the assessment manager to provide to the Independent Assessor all of the documentation held with regard to the decision being appealed. The Independent Assessor is then to carry out a preliminary assessment with reasons which is then provided to the parties. The parties then have an opportunity to make written submissions about the preliminary assessment. The Independent Assessor is then to proceed to make his or her final decision on the appeal with the benefit of those submissions.

The Independent Assessor will make a decision based on the laws and policies in force when the development application was made and on the materials made available by the assessment manager, although he or she may consider other material if he or she considers it helpful. Once the decision has been made, the Registrar will notify the appellant, the respondent and the PLA of the outcome and the reasons for the outcome. The Act makes no provision for appeals of the decision of the Independent Assessor.

The flow-chart below shows the steps in the process for lodging an appeal with the Independent Assessor.

Development Application lodged with local authority.
Application is considered code assessable.	Application is considered impact assessable.
Decision notice is given to the applicant.	Decision notice is given to the applicant.
Applicant decides to appeal the decision.	Applicant decides to appeal the decision.
Is it within 20 business days of receiving the decision notice?	Lodge appeal with the Planning and Environment Court.
Ineligible to appeal. Phone the office of the Indpendent Assessor on (07) 3858 9500 and ask for a 'Notice of Appeal', or download the Notice of Appeal ( 25 KB) in PDF format.     Lodge the 'Notice of Appeal' and the appropriate fee with the Independent Assessor within 20 business days of receipt of the decision notice.     Registrar of the Office of the Independent Assessor gives the Assessment Manager notice of the appeal within 5 business days and requests documentation.     Assessment Manager provides relevant documents to Independent Assessor within 10 business days.     Preliminary assessment made by Independent Assessor within 10 business days and notice of the decision provided to appellant and respondent.     Appellant and respondent have 10 business days to make written submissions to the Independent Assessor.     Appeal decision made by Independent Assessor within 5 business days.     Notice of appeal decision provided to all parties.