Step 4 Establishing Criteria
An official must use evidence to establish which legally proper criteria for the
particular decision are present and which are absent.
667
As the model clearly
indicates, each criterion is established by the appropriate fact. Facts 1-n in the
third column establish Criteria 1-n. Evidence 1-n in the fifth column prove
Facts 1-n in the third column.
Step 5 Measuring Criteria
Criteria can be present (or absent) in varying extents or degrees.
Consequently, having used evidence to ascertain that these criteria are present,
it is also necessary to use evidence to assess the degree or extent to which a
criterion is present or absent.
668
Obviously, the greater extent to which it is
present, the more weight it has in determining the net benefit of an option that it
supports.
Step 6 Aggregating Criteria
An official must aggregate criteria to ascertain how cumulatively strong they
are in making a case for exercising the discretion according to each option.
Aggregated criteria for and against making the decision according to an option
represent the total benefits and total costs in making the decision in that way.
When total costs are subtracted from total benefits for a particular option, the
result constitutes the net benefit of making the decision according to that
option.
Step 7 Evaluating Options
Having determined the net benefit that each option yields, the decision maker
can evaluate each of the options and determine which option in the range
Options 1-n constitutes the best way to exercise the discretion. Put simply, the
best option consists of the one which yields the highest net benefit. This
process is illustrated by the first column of the model. There, the arrow above
the criteria, and directly above Criterion 1, indicates that taken together and
weighed, the criteria determine the net benefit of each
option. The arrow
linking the net benefit to the discretion indicate that the discretion should be
exercised by reference to net benefit –
the official should proceed by
exercising the discretion according to the option that yields the highest net
benefit.
Step 8 Decision
Having determined the net benefit that each option yields, the decision
667
Erichsen v Last (1881) 8 QBD 414, 416 and see Taxation Ruling TR 97/11
668
FCT v Dixon (1952) 86 CLR 540
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