There shall continue to be a Tribunal, henceforth to be called the Complaints Review Tribunal.

The Complaints Review Tribunal is hereby declared to be the same Tribunal as that established by this Act, and called, before the commencement of section 3 of the Human Rights Commission Amendment Act 1993, the Equal Opportunities Tribunal.”

In respect of any matter in which the Tribunal has jurisdiction under this Act to make any final determination, the Chairperson of the Tribunal shall have power to make an interim order if he or she is satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of justice to make the order to preserve the position of the parties pending a final determination of the proceedings.

An application for an interim order may be made only by the Proceedings Commissioner.

A copy of the application shall be served on the defendant, who shall be entitled to be heard before a decision on the application is made.

Where an interim order has been made, the defendant may, with the leave of the Tribunal and instead of appealing against the order, apply to the High Court to vary or rescind the order unless that order was made with the defendant’s consent.”

The Tribunal shall consist of—

Every Chairperson of the Tribunal shall be appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister.

Where the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister considers it necessary, the Governor-General may appoint 2 persons to the office of Chairperson of the Tribunal.

Where there are 2 Chairpersons of the Tribunal, each Chairperson shall exercise principally those parts of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction that are specified from time to time in his or her warrant of appointment, but nothing shall prevent each Chairperson from exercising any other part of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

In this Part of this Act, a reference to ‘the Chairperson’ or ‘the Chairperson of the Tribunal’ shall be read as a reference to either Chairperson where there are 2 Chairpersons of the Tribunal.

Every person appointed as a Chairperson of the Tribunal shall be a barrister or solicitor of the High Court of not less than 7 years’ practice, whether or not the barrister or solicitor holds or has held judicial office.

Except as otherwise provided in section 49 of this Act, every person appointed as a Chairperson of the Tribunal shall hold office for a term of 5 years.

Any person appointed as a Chairperson may hold that office concurrently with any other office held by him or her and may from time to time be reappointed.

Where the term for which a Chairperson has been appointed expires, that Chairperson, unless sooner vacating or removed from office under section 49 of this Act, shall continue to hold office, by virtue of the appointment for the term that has expired, until—

The Minister shall maintain a panel of not more than 20 persons who may be appointed pursuant to section 47 of this Act.

In considering the suitability of any person for inclusion on the panel, the Minister shall have regard not only to his or her personal attributes but also to his or her knowledge of and experience in the different aspects of matters likely to come before the Tribunal.

The name of a person shall be removed from the panel if—

Where subsection (3)(c) or subsection (3)(d) of this section applies, the name of the person shall not be removed from the panel until any hearings in respect of which that person was appointed to the Tribunal have concluded.

In any case in which a Chairperson of the Tribunal becomes incapable of acting by reason of illness, absence, or other sufficient cause, or if a Chairperson deems it not proper or desirable that he or she should adjudicate on any specified matter, the Governor-General, on the recommendation of the Minister, may appoint a suitable person to be the deputy of that Chairperson to act for that Chairperson for the period or purpose stated in the appointment.

No person shall be appointed as a Deputy Chairperson unless he or she is eligible for appointment as a Chairperson.

Every Deputy Chairperson appointed under this section shall, while acting for a Chairperson, be deemed to be a Chairperson of the Tribunal.

No appointment of a Deputy Chairperson, and no act done by a Deputy Chairperson as such, and no act done by the Tribunal while he or she is acting as such, shall in any proceedings be questioned on the ground that the occasion for the appointment had not arisen or had ceased.

A Chairperson and any Deputy Chairperson of the Tribunal may at any time resign his or her office by delivering a notice in writing to that effect to the Minister.

A Chairperson and any Deputy Chairperson of the Tribunal shall be deemed to have vacated his or her office if he or she dies or is, under the Insolvency Act 1967, adjudged bankrupt.

A Chairperson and any Deputy Chairperson of the Tribunal may at any time be removed from office by the Governor-General for disability affecting performance of duty, neglect of duty, or misconduct, proved to the satisfaction of the Governor-General.”