Clause 17

If the Director‑General is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the interests of preserving peace in the area where the persons involved in a dispute reside, the Director‑General may make an application to a tribunal in the manner provided in Rules of Court made under section 32 for the tribunal to hear and determine —

a claim under section 4 in relation to unreasonable interference that occurred on or after the appointed date even though no claimant has brought an action on the claim; or

an application under section 6 or 9, in relation to an alleged failure to comply with an order of court made under section 5 or a special direction made under section 6 occurring on or after the appointed date, even though the party in whose favour an order under section 5 or a special direction under section 6 has been made has not made any such application.(2) The Director‑General may, together with any application under subsection (1) (called in this section the Director‑General’s application), submit to the tribunal any information, statement, image, audio or visual recording, document or other evidence that the Director‑General considers necessary or helpful to the tribunal’s hearing and determination of the claim or application, as the case may be. (3) When the tribunal decides to approve the Director‑General’s application —

an action on the claim under section 4 relating to the dispute or an application under section 6 or 9 (as the case may be) is deemed to have been brought from the date of the tribunal’s approval or any other date specified by the tribunal;

this Act (including section 17(3), (3A), (4) and (5)) applies to the action as if a claimant had brought the action or made the application on that date; and

the Registrar is to fix a time and place to hear the action on the claim under section 4 or the application under section 6 or 9 (as the case may be) and issue a notice to any person that appears to be a party or respondent to the claim or the application (as the case may be), including any person identified by the tribunal as such a party or respondent.(4) A person issued a notice under subsection (3)(c) upon being served the notice —

is deemed to be a party or respondent to the action on the claim under section 4 or the application under section 6 or 9, as the case may be; and

is liable to comply with any order of the tribunal and to pay any fees or costs as if the person were the party or respondent mentioned in paragraph (a).(5) In this section, “appointed date” means the date of commencement of section 17 of the Community Disputes Resolution (Amendment) Act 2024.”.