Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Health Care Complaints Commission

EX TEMPORE Judgment

1. The plaintiff, Sharmain Daisy Clarke seeks to file a summons in these proceedings joining the Health Care Complaints Commission of New South Wales ("HCCC") as the defendant. The proposed defendant is a body established under the Health Care Complaints Act 1993. Its role is to manage complaints about health service providers in New South Wales, including health organisations and registered health practitioners.
2. Ms Clarke also seeks to file in support of her summons her affidavit sworn on 19 April 2022. The Court Registry has referred the matter to the Equity Duty Judge today, because there is an outstanding order of this Court made by Schmidt AJ on 9 February 2021 against Ms Clarke prohibiting her from instituting proceedings in New South Wales against certain bodies or relating to certain subject matters: South-Eastern Sydney Local Health District v Clarke [2021] NSWSC 63.
3. The question before the Court today is whether Ms Clarke's proposed proceedings infringe the prohibition in Schmidt AJ's orders. The proper approach to determining this question is to examine the scope of Schmidt AJ's February 2021 orders and then to compare them with the parties to and content of the proposed proceedings. If the parties and the content of the proposed proceedings come within the prohibition in the February 2021 order, then the Court will decline to allow them to be filed.
4. The February 2021 order is as follows: (1) Pursuant to the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2008, s 8(7)(b) the Defendant is prohibited from instituting proceedings in NSW against or relating to: - (a) the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (and its statutory predecessors and successors), its staff, consultants, executive officers and agents in relation to any matter arising from the Defendant's employment; (b) the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales and the Health Professional Councils Authority, their staff, consultants, executive officers and agents, in relation to any matter arising from the Defendant's professional practice (except with the consent of the Nursing and Midwifery Council); (c) the subject matter of proceedings brought in the following proceedings: Tribunals (i) Sharmain Naicker and NSW Health Service - Government of New South Wales for South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service - Matter No. IRC 427 of 2008. (ii) Sharmain Naicker and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District - Matter No. IRC 927 of 2014. (iii) Sharmain Naicker and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District - Matter No. IRC 318 of 2015. (iv) Fair Work Commission Proceedings No: 2016/4065 - Sharmain Naicker v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District t/as Royal Hospital for Women. (v) Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales File No: 2017/25026 - Sharmain Clarke v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. (vi) Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales File No 2020/32150 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales. (vii) Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales File No: 2019/00126124 (subject to restriction pursuant to s 64 (1) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act (NSW) 2013 that the name of the applicant is not to be published). Local Court of New South Wales (viii) Local Court Case No: 2019/285426 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Violet Stojkova and Hicksons Lawyers. District Court of New South Wales (ix) District Court Case No: 2016/245332 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Susan Dale. (x) District Court Case No: 2017/350767 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Julie Herrick. (xi) District Court Case No: 2018/113261 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales. (xii) District Court Case No: 2018/120717 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District and Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales. (xiii) District Court Case No: 2018/277318 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Maria Fenn. (xiv) District Court Case No: 2019/134260 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Julie Herrick and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. (xv) District Court Case No: 2020/128851 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Hicksons Lawyers. (xvi) District Court Case No: 2020/199084 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. Supreme Court of New South Wales (xvii) Supreme Court Case No: 2017/101668 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District and Julie Herrick. Federal Circuit Court (xviii) Federal Circuit Court proceedings SYG1333/2018 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Vanessa Madunic, Gerry Marr, Julie Herrick, and Maria Fenn. (xix) Federal Circuit Court proceedings SYG3310/2018 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales, Nursing and Midwifery Board, New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association and Violet Stojkova. (xx) Federal Circuit Court Case number SYG160/2020 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Julie Herrick, Virginia King, Susan, Dale, Bronwyn Hickman, Lesley Finn, Maria Fenn, Annette Wright and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (incorrectly sued as Royal Hospital for Women). Federal Court of Australia (xxi) Federal Court Case No: NSD166/2019 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales. (xxii) Federal Court Case No: NSD167/2019 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. (xxiii) Federal Court Case No: NSD691/2019 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Susan Dale. (xxiv) Federal Court Case No: NSD1295/2019 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales, Nursing and Midwifery Board, New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association and Violet Stojkova. (xxv) Federal Court Case No: NSD34/2020 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales, Nursing and Midwifery Board, NSWNMA and Violet Stojkova. (xxvi) Federal Court Case No: NSD1880/2019 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. (xxvii) Federal Court Case No: NSD1881/2019 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales. (xxviii) Federal Court Case No: NSD1882/2019 - Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Susan Dale. (2) Pursuant to the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2008, s 8(7)(a) the following District Court of NSW proceedings are stayed: (a) Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Hicksons Lawyers (2020/128851); and (b) Sharmain Daisy Clarke v Dr Adams & Ors (2020/294918) insofar as those proceedings concern Anthony Samuels and Karen Arnold.