According to Central Coast Labor MPs, the NSW Government’s decision to reopen a dedicated NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) office in the Gateway Centre, Gosford, is a result of pressure from Central Coast Labor.
Member for Gosford, Ms Liesl Tesch, united with the other Labor State MPs, to call on the State Government to re-open a (NCAT) office in Gosford.
NCAT was formerly known as the Small Claims Tribunal.
Ms Tesch, along with the Members for Wyong, the Entrance and Swansea, moved a Notice of Motion in the Parliament calling on the NSW Government to re-open a dedicated NCAT hearing venue in Gosford.
The only dedicated NCAT Hearing Venue for the Central Coast, was previously located at the Gosford NSW Fair Trading Office, but the Liberal Government recently relocated it.
The new Fair Trading Office does not cater for NCAT hearings.
NCAT Hearings are now held in numerous locations including Gosford and Woy Woy Courts, Erina Library and even as far off as Newcastle.
The closure of a dedicated NCAT Hearing Venue has sparked concern from local tenants’ advice and community legal groups, who fear that services will not be adequately replicated while NCAT is forced to operate from multiple sites.
NSW Fair Trading paid up to $3 million to fit out the Gosford office before closing that office in December 2016.
The announcement that an NCAT office would be returning to her seat came from the government on May 31.
Ms Tesch and her Labor colleagues labelled the news a “stunning back down” by the state government.
“Fighting to see the local office reopened was a big part of my campaign and I’m happy to see these services re-delivered to the Central Coast,” Ms Tesch concluded.
Source:
Media release, May 31
Zachary Harrison, office of David Harris
Media release, May 31
David Mehan MP