The misunderstanding regarding VCAT financial limits.
Some of you may have seen a post that Shane put up in the APMC Facebook group in relation to a consultancy matter we are dealing with that will end in VCAT. The amount claimed is just over $80,000 and a common misunderstanding is that VCAT can not hear a matter over $40,000. The $40,000 is the limit for VCAT to hear matters purely under the Residential Tenancies Act. The reality is that VCAT can hear matters affecting Residential Tenancies which are over $40,000 the matters are heard under section 184 of the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012, which can then incorporate appropriate sections of the RTA. If possession forms part of the claim then the matter must be heard by a judicial member of VCAT, a judicial member being either the president who is a Supreme Court Justice or a Vice President, all of whom arer Judges of the County Court.