Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2004C01298:clause:1_25a:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2004C01298
Segment Type: clause
Provision Reference: sch 1 cl 25A (pt 1/3)
Character Range: 26067–28710

25A  Hearings by hearing officers

 (1) Hearing officers are to be appointed by the Governor‑General on the advice of the Minister.

 (2) Any advice to the Governor‑General with respect to the appointment of a person as a hearing officer must be consistent with a unanimous recommendation of the Inter‑Governmental Committee.

 (3) A person must not be appointed as a hearing officer unless he or she is enrolled as a legal practitioner, and has been so for not less than 5 years.

 (4) A hearing officer may regulate the conduct of proceedings at a hearing as he or she thinks fit.

 (5) At a hearing before a hearing officer:
 (a) a person giving evidence may be represented by a legal practitioner; and
 (b) if, by reason of the existence of special circumstances, the hearing officer consents to a person who is not giving evidence being represented by a legal practitioner—the person may be so represented.

 (6) A hearing before a hearing officer must be held in private and the hearing officer may give directions as to the persons who may be present during the hearing or a part of the hearing.

 (7) Nothing in a direction given by the hearing officer under subsection (6) prevents the presence, when evidence is being taken at a hearing before the hearing officer, of:
 (a) a person representing the person giving evidence; or
 (b) a person representing, in accordance with subsection (5), a person who, by reason of a direction given by the hearing officer under subsection (6), is entitled to be present.

 (8) If a hearing before a hearing officer is being held, a person (other than a member or a member of the staff of the Authority approved by the Authority) must not be present at the hearing unless the person is entitled to be present by reason of a direction given by the hearing officer under subsection (6) or by reason of subsection (7).

 (9) At a hearing before a hearing officer for the purposes of a special investigation:
 (a) counsel assisting the hearing officer generally or in relation to the matter to which the investigation relates; or
 (b) any person authorised by the hearing officer to appear before the hearing officer at the hearing; or
 (c) any legal practitioner representing a person at the hearing in accordance with subsection (5);
may, so far as the hearing officer thinks appropriate, examine or cross‑examine any witness on any matter that the hearing officer considers relevant to the special investigation.

 (10) If a person (other than a member or a member of the staff of the Authority) is present at a hearing before a hearing officer while another person (the witness) is giving evidence