CRLW and National Disability Insurance Agency

This matter concerned an application for review before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) between CRLW, the applicant, and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), the respondent. The dispute arose from the applicant's eligibility to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant continued to meet the NDIS access criteria, specifically the residence requirement, at the time the Tribunal considered the application for review, given that the applicant had passed away before the finalisation of the review. The Tribunal was required to determine if the residence requirement was a mandatory criterion and if there was any discretion to disregard it in the circumstances.

Senior Member Connolly reasoned that the NDIS Act mandates that the residence requirement must be met at the time the Tribunal considers the request for access. The Tribunal found no provision within the NDIS Act that allowed for this requirement to be disregarded, even in light of the applicant's unfortunate passing. Consequently, as the applicant could no longer satisfy the residence requirement, the Tribunal concluded that the access criteria could not be met and the review application had no reasonable prospect of success.

Accordingly, the Tribunal dismissed the application pursuant to paragraph 42B(1)(b) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth).