The Tribunal hears complaints of discrimination, harassment, vilification or victimisation which have been referred to it by the Commission.

The Tribunal operates like a court but seeks to keep its processes informal and straightforward. Hearings are public, and people often have legal representation in their cases.

This year, 210 complaints were referred to the Tribunal by the Commission and 184 were finalised. This represents an increase of approximately 13% on the 162 complaints finalised the previous year.

Of those matters finalised, the great majority (93%) were resolved by conciliation, settlement or withdrawal prior to public hearing. This represents an increase of 3% in the settlemement rate.

Twenty final hearings were held, and 8 matters were finalised by a decision. Of these final hearings, 6 complaints were upheld and 2 complaints were dismissed. A further 7 matters were heard, with decisions pending, and 2 matters have been part heard, but not finalised.

The Tribunal also hears and decides applications for exemptions from the operation of particular provisions of the Act. Six applications for exemption were received in 2004-05, with 4 being finalised. Of these 4, one was allowed and 3 were withdrawn. The one exemption granted involved a young women’s resource centre which was granted an exemption from complaints of age and sex discrimination, to enable it to recruit young women and to provide sexual assault counseling and accommodation for disadvantaged young women.

Three applications for exemption are awaiting finalisation.

A further role for the Tribunal is to provide opinions on the application of the Act if requested by the Commissioner. During this year, the Commissioner made two requests for an opinion. One opinion, which involved the development of manufactured homes for people aged over 50, has been provided, while a response to the other is being considered.

The Tribunal can make orders prohibiting a person from doing something that might prejudice the investigation or conciliation of a complaint or an order made after a hearing. Three applications for interim orders were received during 2004-05. One was granted by the Tribunal, one settled between the parties and one was dismissed.

Projects
In 2004-05 the Tribunal reviewed its procedures and case management techniques. This resulted in improved efficiency in managing matters referred to it.

Work was completed on the development of a self-help kit and it is being trialled with selfrepresented parties prior to its official launch next year.

Projects for 2005-06 include:
— development of a manual for Tribunal staff
— a meeting of Tribunal members to discuss a range of issues including the process for considering applications for exemptions.