About
I am chuffed to have been invited to join the CRE-PF Consumer Advisory Group. I also have an ILD – having discovered in my case that our feathered friends were bad company. The disease has meant some restriction of physical activity but at my age, lots of activities are restricted!
I have been retired since 2012 although have from time to time assisted a colleague in the City cope with his workload. Otherwise, the years have passed with alarming speed. I have been a lawyer for almost 50 years now and spent about 20 years in private practice and the last 20 years appointed as a member of a NSW Tribunal dealing with disputes between parties across a range of matters including consumer claims, retirement villages and residential buildings.
The Tribunal is at present known as the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Whatever else I may have gleaned from my time as a Tribunal Member, I tried to be courteous and ensure the parties understood the rules of the hearing procedure, were given a fair hearing and whether happy or not with the outcome, understood the reasons for the determination.
These aspects were particularly important in those cases in which parties were not legally represented. Although these skills were particular to my job, I hope they, together with my experience with ILD, may make a contribution to the work of the consumer group. I am looking forward to endeavouring to ensure that it does.