Hi, I’m closely involved in xCAT cases for my Australian organisation.

We send an in-house lawyer to represent us at every mediation and hearing.

Every complaint that goes to an official body is dealt with by the lawyers at that point. Only if they complain directly to us does our “complaints department” handle it.

I can't speak for CAT's outside NSW, but in NSW, under section 45 of the «Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW)», a party (including a company that is the respondent) is not entitled to be represented by any person unless NCAT grants leave (permission) for representation[0], which is a separate step – the company must seek leave first for each case.

Only certain NCAT case types give an automatic right to representation, so a company can have a «lawyer» appear without seeking leave. NCAT’s own guidance[1] lists these as:

  Administrative review and regulation

  Professional discipline

  Retail leases

Since I do not know the nature and specifics of your Australian organisation, I have nothing else of significance to contribute on that particular topic.

To sum it up, the most common dispute scenarios involve the following sequence of events: consumer ↝ complaint department ↝ state/federal level regulator, e.g. Department of Fair Trading (NSW), ACCC (federal) or similar ↝ ombudsman or xCAT or a court. The regulatorory step can sometimes be skipped.

[0] https://ncat.nsw.gov.au/how-ncat-works/prepare-for-your-hear...

[1] https://ncat.nsw.gov.au/how-ncat-works/prepare-for-your-hear...