BLZQ and National Disability Insurance Agency

This matter came before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) concerning a dispute between BLZQ and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). The core of the dispute involved BLZQ's request for a declaration and direction under section 28 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth) regarding the adequacy of the reasons provided by the NDIA for its decision on BLZQ's NDIS plan. Specifically, BLZQ sought further and better particulars concerning the funding allocated for capacity building supports.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the NDIA's statement of reasons adequately set out its findings on material questions of fact, referred to the evidence or other material on which those findings were based, and provided adequate particulars of the reasons for its decision, as required by section 28(5) of the AAT Act. The Tribunal was tasked with determining if the NDIA's explanation for the specific amount of capacity building funding, particularly the allocation of 152 hours, was sufficiently detailed and intelligible to allow BLZQ and his family to understand the rationale behind the decision.

The Tribunal found that while the NDIA's internal reviewer had referenced relevant materials and provided general explanations for the decision to affirm the capacity building funding, the reasons provided lacked the necessary specificity regarding the calculation of the 152 hours. The Tribunal noted that the provided explanations did not articulate the rationale for capping the therapeutic intervention at 152 hours, nor did they explain how this figure was derived, leaving BLZQ's family without a clear understanding of the decision-making process. The Tribunal concluded that the absence of this specific rationale rendered the reasons unintelligible in a material respect.

Consequently, the Tribunal granted BLZQ's request for a declaration that the statement of reasons was inadequate and issued a direction under section 28(6) of the AAT Act, requiring the NDIA to provide an additional statement containing further and better particulars concerning the rationale for the allocated hours of capacity building support.