O'Shannessy & Department of Health v. Blacktown Workers Club
O'Shannessy & Department of Health v. Blacktown Workers' Club [2010] NSWSC 1153
- Australia
- Oct 14, 2010
- New South Wales Supreme Court
O'Shannessy & Department of Health v. Blacktown Workers' Club [2010] NSWSC 1153
This was an appeal by the Department of Health against the dismissal of a prosecution by the Magistrates Court of an offence against the Smoke-free Environment Act 2000.
In the Local Court, these proceedings were run as a test case in relation to the interpretation of various aspects of the Act. The prosecution was against the Blacktown Workers Club for allowing smoking in a gaming area, which was allegedly an enclosed public place, in contravention of the Act. The Magistrate in the Local Court dismissed the prosecution on the basis that, among other things, mesh screens in the gaming area were not "walls" within the meaning of the Act.
On appeal, Harrison J overturned the Magistrate's decision that the mesh screens were not "walls" and remitted the matter to the Local Court.
(Note: Harrison J's decision was subsequently itself overturned and the original decision reinstated; see: Blacktown Workers' Club Ltd v. O'Shannessy [2011] NSWCA 265 (6 September 2011)).