Bogdan and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social services second review)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding the date from which an applicant was entitled to an increase in his age pension rate. The applicant, who had been receiving the age pension since September 2016, operated a business through a family trust. Following a review of his trust finances, his pension rate was adjusted in November 2017, with arrears paid from September 2017. The applicant did not seek review of this initial decision. Subsequently, after advising Centrelink in April 2018 that his business had ceased operating, a further review occurred in September 2018. Centrelink decided not to pay arrears earlier than May 2018, prompting the applicant's review application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the correct date from which the applicant was to be paid arrears of his increased age pension rate, specifically in relation to the second rate decision. The applicant contended that his review application encompassed both the first and second rate decisions, seeking an earlier commencement date for arrears. The respondent argued that the Tribunal's jurisdiction was confined to the second rate decision only.

The Tribunal agreed with the respondent that its jurisdiction was limited to the second rate decision. It found that the first rate decision, which had been communicated to the applicant in November 2017, was a final determination. As the applicant had not applied for a review of that decision within the prescribed time, it was no longer open for the Tribunal to consider it. The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's advice in April 2018 that his business had ceased trading, and the subsequent provision of financial reports indicating the business ceased trading on 31 March 2018, were the relevant events for the second rate decision.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and ordered that the applicant was entitled to an increased rate of age pension from 31 March 2018, but no earlier.