40Costs

40 Costs

(1)  Except as provided under this Act, the National Law or a referring Act, each party to proceedings under this Act must bear the party's own costs in the proceedings.

(2)  The Tribunal may order a party to proceedings to pay all the costs, or a part of the costs specified in the order, of another party to the proceedings if the Tribunal considers that it is in the interests of justice to do so.

(3)  In deciding whether to award costs in proceedings, the Tribunal is to take into account –

(a) whether a party to the proceedings has behaved in a way that has unnecessarily disadvantaged another party to the proceedings; and

(b) the nature and complexity of the proceedings; and

(c) the relative strengths of the claims made by the parties in the proceedings; and

(d) if the proceedings are for review of a decision –

(i) whether the applicant was accorded procedural fairness by the person who made the decision; and

(ii) whether the applicant genuinely attempted to enable, and assist, to make the decision, the person who made the decision; and

(e) the financial circumstances of the parties to the proceedings; and

(f) any other matter the Tribunal thinks relevant.

(4)  If the Tribunal considers that a representative of a party to proceedings, rather than the party, is responsible for behaviour, referred to in subsection (3)(a) , that has unnecessarily disadvantaged another party to the proceedings, the Tribunal may order the representative to pay to the other party an amount specified in the order, as compensation for the unnecessary costs incurred by the other party as a result of the behaviour.

(5)  The Tribunal may not make an order under subsection (4) against a representative of a party to proceedings unless the representative has been given a reasonable opportunity to be heard before the order is made.

(6)  If an order is made under subsection (4) against a representative of a party to proceedings –