The Veterinary Practice Act 2003 (Act) (s 34) provides that a decision by the Board to refuse registration may be reviewed by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal).

Janet Spate was registered in the ACT and after a series of complaints lodged against her and an investigation by the ACT Board agreed to remove herself from the Register and to not seek restoration to the Register until October 2018 (a 2 year period).  Ms Spate then put forward an application to register in NSW.

The findings of the Tribunal are available from the NSW Caselaw website under recent decisions, occupational division.

The Board resolved that Ms Spate should not be registered in NSW as the agreement with the ACT Board was effectively a refusal to register her in that jurisdiction.  Further, the conditions imposed on her registration through the agreement at the time of her registration in the ACT were effectively mirrored in NSW.  Hence, her agreement with the ACT Board effectively extended to NSW.

At the Tribunal hearing the Board also put forward the case that as Ms Spate had entered an agreement to not register in the ACT her actions to seek registration in NSW demonstrated that she was not a person of good character (a further reason for refusal to register).  The Board put forward material from complaint investigations in the ACT to support its argument that its refusal to grant registration in NSW was aligned with the objects of the Act.