BYKP and Secretary, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (Social services)

The applicant, BYKP, sought a second-tier review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) of a decision to cancel their JobSeeker payment. The respondent was the Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. At the time BYKP lodged their application for a second-tier review, there had been no decision by an Authorised Review Officer (ARO) of the Department, nor had there been a first-tier review by the Social Services and Child Support Division of the AAT.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to conduct a second-tier review in the absence of a prior ARO decision or a first-tier review decision. The Tribunal was required to determine if the conditions precedent for its jurisdiction to hear a second-tier review had been met.

The Tribunal reasoned that its jurisdiction for a second-tier review was contingent upon the existence of a decision from a first-tier review. As no such decision had been made by the Social Services and Child Support Division, and no ARO decision had been made by the Department at the time the application was filed, the statutory requirements for the Tribunal to exercise its jurisdiction for a second-tier review were not satisfied. The Tribunal applied the principle that it can only hear matters over which it has been granted jurisdiction by legislation.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the application was not reviewable and dismissed it pursuant to s 42A(4) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth).