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

This matter concerned a second-tier review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of a decision to refuse a disability support pension. The applicant sought the pension based on chronic lower back pain, monocular doubling of vision, chronic right shoulder pain, and chronic left knee pain. The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether these claimed impairments could be rated under the Impairment Tables, which required the conditions to be permanent, meaning fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised, and likely to persist for more than two years.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's evidence regarding the severity of his lower back pain, including limitations on driving, sitting, standing, and bending, as well as his ability to perform daily tasks and simple housework. The respondent contended that the lower back pain, while diagnosed, had not been fully treated and stabilised, and alternatively, that it should attract an impairment rating of 10 points. The Tribunal also directed the respondent to provide submissions on the availability of specialist treatment in the public health system, to which the applicant was given an opportunity to reply.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the requirement for conditions to be permanent, fully treated, and stabilised during the qualification period, which commenced on 5 February 2019 and ended on 7 May 2019. Evidence of conditions subsequent to this period was only relevant to the weight given to prognoses made during the qualification period. The Tribunal's decision affirmed the previous findings, indicating that the applicant's conditions did not meet the criteria for a disability support pension under the Impairment Tables.