The Federal Court has set aside a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) not to disqualify John Gilliland’s self-managed super fund (SMSF) auditor registration.

Following an appeal by ASIC, the Court found that general deterrence is a relevant consideration in deciding whether to disqualify a person as an approved SMSF auditor under section 130F of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth).

The Court found that the AAT had not considered general deterrence when making its decision.

The matter has been remitted back to the AAT to have the matter re-determined.

As a result of the Federal Court’s decision, Mr. Gilliland is again disqualified as an SMSF auditor, pending a final decision by the AAT.