Blain and Repatriation Commission (Veterans’ entitlements)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Repatriation Commission to reject a claim for a war widow's pension. The applicant was the widow of a veteran who had served in the Australian Army between 1942 and 1946. The veteran died in 2010, with the certified causes of death being apnoea, aspiration pneumonia, and progressive supra nuclear palsy. The applicant's claim for a war widow's pension was initially rejected by a delegate of the Repatriation Commission and subsequently affirmed by the Veterans’ Review Board. The applicant sought review of this decision by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the death of the veteran arose out of, or was attributable to, his eligible war service, as required by section 8(1)(b) of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (Cth). This determination was to be made in accordance with section 120A(2) of the Act, which requires that for a hypothesis connecting a death with service to be reasonable, there must be in force a Statement of Principles (SoP) determined by the Repatriation Medical Authority that upholds that hypothesis. The Tribunal was required to consider the material before it, ascertain if an SoP was in force, and if so, determine if the hypothesis raised by the material fit within the SoP's "template."

The Tribunal considered the SoP concerning Diabetes Mellitus, which had been amended during the course of the proceedings. The Tribunal found that neither the original nor the amended SoP upheld a hypothesis that the veteran's diabetes condition was related to his service, particularly given the significant time elapsed since his last day of service. Applying the principles from *Repatriation Commission v Deledio*, the Tribunal concluded that the material before it did not point to a reasonable hypothesis connecting the veteran's death with the circumstances of his service.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that it could not be reasonably satisfied that the veteran's death was war-caused.