Two Sydney lawyers are calling for a member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Chris Puplick, to have his position on the tribunal reviewed due to an adverse finding against him when he served as president of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board.

In 2003 Mr Puplick, a former Liberal Party senator, resigned from his posts on the ADB board and as NSW Privacy commissioner after being investigated for improperly acting on behalf a friend in a discrimination case, winning the man a payout.

Chris Puplick's role at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal is being questioned. Credit:Lyn Mills

In a report on the incident that was never made public, the NSW Ombudsman wrote: “I had no confidence that he would, into the future, have recognised and acted appropriately should a similar conflict of interest have occurred between his roles as Privacy Commissioner or ADB President on the one hand and his personal or other professional relationships on the other.”

The matter was referred to the Department of Public Prosecutions and the ICAC. No action was taken.