Braid and Repatriation Commission (Veterans’ entitlements)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Braid against a decision of the Repatriation Commission regarding his eligibility for a Special Rate pension under the *Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986* (Cth). Mr Braid, who suffers from accepted service-related conditions including anxiety, sought to have his depressive disorder and fractured skull accepted as service-related from 1964, entitling him to the Special Rate pension from that date. The Deputy President of the Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Braid met the criteria for this pension.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Braid satisfied the requirements for a Special Rate pension as stipulated in section 24 of the Act. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider whether Mr Braid met the criteria under section 24(2A), which involves several conditions including having a war-caused incapacity of at least 70% and being incapable of working an aggregate total of 8 hours per week as a result of incapacity from war-caused injury or disease alone.

The Tribunal found that while Mr Braid had a 100% combined incapacity impairment and was not working, it was not sufficiently clear that his inability to work was solely a product of his war-caused injuries or diseases. The Tribunal noted that Mr Braid had been out of the workforce for approximately 37 years and had resigned from several positions due to an inability to cope with employment duties, suggesting other factors may have contributed to his long-term unemployment. Consequently, Mr Braid was unable to satisfy the criterion in section 24(2A)(c) which requires the veteran to satisfy subsections 24(1)(a) and (b).

As Mr Braid did not qualify for the Special Rate pension, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.