Michael Tidball's Dept Of Justice NSW & its NSW LPAB breached NSW Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Regulations, other rules, by their failure to report investigation and expose by The Australian
by Ganesh Sahathevan
The NSW Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Regulations requires that agencies include information about the extent and main features of consumer complaints in their Annual reporting. Page 19 of the NSW LPAB’s 2017-2018 Annual Report includes a section titled “Consumer response” on page 19. This section mentions seven items of feedback, three of which were complaints but none refer to the NSW LPAB's response to complaints made to it against the College Of Law Ltd and its conduct of the PLT course. The NSW LPAB has ongoing duties to oversee and accredit the College Of Law's PLT course. The College relies on the NSW LPAB for its AUD 50 Million per annum FEE HELP financed revenue.
The complaints were raised by this writer in the 2017-2018 financial year. The issue spilled over into the 2018-2019 financial year, and became subject of an investigation by The Australian, which reported the issue on 17 January 2019.
That investigation and the story in The Australian have also been excluded from the NSW Department Of Justice and NSW LPAB annual reports. The story in The Australian includes reference to the NSW LPAB's response to issues concerning the College Of Law.
TO BE READ WITH
July 03, 2022
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Michael Tidball
Michael Tidball,the recently appointed Secretary, Department Of Communities And Justice, faces his first end of financial year in that position. He inherits the problems in the NSW LPAB and Department of Justice's past annual reports, but unlike his predecessors, he would have personal knowledge of the problems.
That is a result of his past position as CEO, NSW Law Society, where Tidball was made aware, and did not act on information about the NSW Law Society's College Of Law Ltd's conduct in Malaysia, and mishandling of the Professional Legal Training course.
These issues were brought to the attention of the NSW LPAB, which also chose to exclude those issues, and the action taken, in its 2018-2019 and subsequent annual reports. The NSW LPAB is part of the NSW Department Of Justice, and hence the Department's annual reports are also affected.
TO BE READ WITH
by Ganesh Sahathevan
The departure of the Legal Profession Admission Board's Executive Officer, Louise Pritchard, was reported nationally in The Australian, 17 January 2019:
The body overseen by Chief Justice Tom Bathurst responsible for deciding who can practise law in NSW relied on a wildly defamatory Malaysian blog depicting ABC journalists, former British prime minister Tony Blair, financier George Soros and others as part of a global conspiracy when deciding to deny a would-be solicitor a certificate to practise.
Chief Justice Bathurst and Legal Practitioner Admission Board executive officer Louise Pritchard declined to answer The Australian’s questions about how the article came into the board’s hands and why its members felt the conspiracy-laden material could be relied upon as part of a decision to deny Sydney man Ganesh Sahathevan admission as a lawyer. Nor would either say which of the 10 members of the LPAB, three of whom are serving NSW Supreme Court judges, was on the deciding panel.
Ms Pritchard has left her role at the LPAB since The Australian began making inquiries in September. The article, published in December 2017 on website The Third Force, accuses Mr Sahathevan of engaging in a conspiracy to attack then Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
Compounding all of the above is the fact that Mr Bathurst and his LPAB continue to defend the College Of Law Sydney's management of the PLT programme, despite historical and ongoing complaints about its delivery and substance.
As a result of the inaction the College continues to receive some AUD 40-50 Million in Commonwealth Government FEE HELP funding, without which it is unlikely to survive.
The body overseen by Chief Justice Tom Bathurst responsible for deciding who can practise law in NSW relied on a wildly defamatory Malaysian blog depicting ABC journalists, former British prime minister Tony Blair, financier George Soros and others as part of a global conspiracy when deciding to deny a would-be solicitor a certificate to practise.
Chief Justice Bathurst and Legal Practitioner Admission Board executive officer Louise Pritchard declined to answer The Australian’s questions about how the article came into the board’s hands and why its members felt the conspiracy-laden material could be relied upon as part of a decision to deny Sydney man Ganesh Sahathevan admission as a lawyer. Nor would either say which of the 10 members of the LPAB, three of whom are serving NSW Supreme Court judges, was on the deciding panel.
Ms Pritchard has left her role at the LPAB since The Australian began making inquiries in September. The article, published in December 2017 on website The Third Force, accuses Mr Sahathevan of engaging in a conspiracy to attack then Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
The departure of the Legal Profession Admission Board's Executive Officer, Louise Pritchard, was reported nationally in The Australian, 17 January 2019:
The body overseen by Chief Justice Tom Bathurst responsible for deciding who can practise law in NSW relied on a wildly defamatory Malaysian blog depicting ABC journalists, former British prime minister Tony Blair, financier George Soros and others as part of a global conspiracy when deciding to deny a would-be solicitor a certificate to practise.
Chief Justice Bathurst and Legal Practitioner Admission Board executive officer Louise Pritchard declined to answer The Australian’s questions about how the article came into the board’s hands and why its members felt the conspiracy-laden material could be relied upon as part of a decision to deny Sydney man Ganesh Sahathevan admission as a lawyer. Nor would either say which of the 10 members of the LPAB, three of whom are serving NSW Supreme Court judges, was on the deciding panel.
Ms Pritchard has left her role at the LPAB since The Australian began making inquiries in September. The article, published in December 2017 on website The Third Force, accuses Mr Sahathevan of engaging in a conspiracy to attack then Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
Mr Bathurst's problems of governance at the LPAB are not limited to the departure of his Executive Officer.
Her replacement, Tan Siew Ting McKeogh has brought additional problems. As reported, the appointment of Tan Siew Ting McKeogh as Executive Officer LPAB adds to governance ,reporting issues at the LPAB, Department of Justice.
Her replacement, Tan Siew Ting McKeogh has brought additional problems. As reported, the appointment of Tan Siew Ting McKeogh as Executive Officer LPAB adds to governance ,reporting issues at the LPAB, Department of Justice.
Compounding all of the above is the fact that Mr Bathurst and his LPAB continue to defend the College Of Law Sydney's management of the PLT programme, despite historical and ongoing complaints about its delivery and substance.
As a result of the inaction the College continues to receive some AUD 40-50 Million in Commonwealth Government FEE HELP funding, without which it is unlikely to survive.
END
AND
Bizarre blog claims used to deny man right to practise law
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
EXCLUSIVE
- 12:00AM JANUARY 17, 2019
- 2 COMMENTS
The body overseen by Chief Justice Tom Bathurst responsible for deciding who can practise law in NSW relied on a wildly defamatory Malaysian blog depicting ABC journalists, former British prime minister Tony Blair, financier George Soros and others as part of a global conspiracy when deciding to deny a would-be solicitor a certificate to practise.
Chief Justice Bathurst and Legal Practitioner Admission Board executive officer Louise Pritchard declined to answer The Australian’s questions about how the article came into the board’s hands and why its members felt the conspiracy-laden material could be relied upon as part of a decision to deny Sydney man Ganesh Sahathevan admission as a lawyer. Nor would either say which of the 10 members of the LPAB, three of whom are serving NSW Supreme Court judges, was on the deciding panel.
Ms Pritchard has left her role at the LPAB since The Australian began making inquiries in September. The article, published in December 2017 on website The Third Force, accuses Mr Sahathevan of engaging in a conspiracy to attack then Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
Posted 14th August 2019 by Ganesh Sahathevan
