56 Consequently it would appear that the applicant was simply not self motivated to pursue any prospects of agitation of a claim against the employer even after the apparent revelations that were said to be provided by way of the job advertisement in The North Shore Times of 3 February. The corollary of this apparent absence of self motivation gives rise to the implication that the applicant may never have lodged an unfair dismissal claim had she not been prompted by a representative of another organisation, presumably a competitor to the employer, with whom she was seeking alternative employment.
57 There is further unexplained and unacceptable delay in the period between approximately 9 March and 15 March 2006. The evidence indicated that the applicant made contact with the agents on 28 February and met with the agents on 9 March. However the application was not filed until nearly a week after the first meeting with the agents and over two weeks after the first telephone contact made with the agents.
58 It would seem that where a potential unfair dismissal claim could be quickly identified to have been considerably out of time, there might have been some urgency attached to the filing of a claim, or at very least making contact with the former employer raising the concerns that had allegedly emerged as a consequence of the job advertisement of 3 February.
59 It would seem reasonable that an aggrieved employee or those acting on their behalf, might endeavour to make direct contact with the former employer about the concerns that were apparently raised by way of the advertisement which was said to have created a "sham" of the redundancy of the applicant. Such an approach may have led to advice of a satisfactory explanation for the advertisement and avoided the need for any litigation. Similarly such an approach may have been more consistent with a genuine concern arising from the job advertisement as compared with the encouragement to raise issue with the agents and the subsequent, albeit further delayed, filing of an unfair dismissal claim.
60 In respect to the issue of hardship that may be caused to either the applicant or the employer there appeared to be obvious potential hardship for either side if the application was or was not rejected. Obviously the applicant would suffer some hardship if she was denied the opportunity to have her unfair dismissal case heard and fully determined. Balanced against the applicant's position it was similarly identified as onerous upon the employer if, after a significant period of time vis-a-vis the time limitation, the employer was potentially liable to make payment of further amounts in excess of an amount that was close to the maximum compensation that the applicant was pursuing. It would seem therefore that hardship might be visited almost equally upon either side dependent upon whether or not the out of time application was or was not rejected.
61 There was some evidence of conduct on the part of the employer that may have been relevant to the issue of delay in respect of filing of the unfair dismissal claim. The employer had obviously experienced some unintended outcomes with its employment practices as they related to redundancy. The employer had developed a need to establish a policy that a person that the employer had made redundant could not be offered re-employment within a period of three months after the dismissal on the basis of the alleged redundancy. Further, the evidence revealed that the employer had modified this unusual policy to extend the period from three to twelve months.
62 The applicant was told about the employer's policy of no re-engagement of redundant employees until after a three months period had elapsed. The applicant suggested that this inferred that she might be re-engaged after a three months period following her dismissal. The subsequent submission was that this policy operated to dissuade the applicant from agitating an unfair dismissal claim at least for the first three months after dismissal in the expectation that there might be re-engagement following that period. Such a proposition appears to have some potential validity. However the applicant did not provide evidence of any conscious decision to withhold the filing of an unfair dismissal claim because of an expectation that re-engagement might occur potentially from about the end of February 2006, which would be three months after the applicant's dismissal on 30 November 2005.
63 Further, it would seem that if the applicant was acting in accordance with a belief that she may be re-engaged on or after February 2006, she took no steps to apply for or inquire about the positions advertised on 3 February 2006. As a matter of logic it would seem that if the applicant had been dissuaded from making an unfair dismissal claim because of the apparent potential for re-engagement after three months, she would have at very least, inquired of the employer when she first saw the job advertisement for a position that had some similarities to the one from which she had been declared redundant.
64 Consequently although it would seem that the employer's rather strange policy regarding engagement of allegedly redundant people not sooner than three months after their dismissal, might ordinarily act as conduct that could be seen as impacting upon, and creating delay in lodgement of an unfair dismissal claim, it did not actually have such impact in the case of the applicant.
CONCLUSIONS
65 Consideration of the granting of an extension of time is often referred to as a balancing of the interests of justice. The time limitations are set for good and obvious reason. Therefore any applicant seeking to have the discretion to extend time granted must logically bear a significant onus.
66 There is considerable Authority in this regard. Although dealing with different Legislation, the approach adopted by Fitzgerald J in the case of Lucic v Nolan and Others is relevant to the exercise of the discretion provided by section 85(3) of the Act. The following extract from the Judgement of Fitzgerald J is relevant:
"Where specific periods are fixed, they are quite short. That carries obvious implications. However the time limitations are not absolute. In this, as in other matters arising under the Act, eg in respect of the relief, which may be granted under s16, the court is given a discretion. None the less, it must, in my opinion, be accepted that it has deliberately been made the prima facie rule that proceedings not commenced in time should not be entertained." Lucic v Nolan and Others , Federal Court of Australia - General Division, Fitzgerald J, [1 Nov 1982], 45 ALR 411 @ 416.