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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Douglas against a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services to cancel his disability support pension. The central dispute revolved around whether Mr Douglas's impairments attracted an impairment rating of 20 or more points under the relevant Impairment Tables, as required by section 94(1)(b) of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth). The Administrative Appeals Tribunal had affirmed the Secretary's decision.

The legal issues before the court were whether Mr Douglas's impairments, specifically a spinal impairment and a mental health impairment, met the criteria for an Impairment Rating under the Impairment Tables. This required determining if these conditions were permanent and likely to persist for more than two years, and if the conditions had been fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised. The court also had to consider whether other reported conditions, such as neck, knee, hand, and shoulder issues, could be taken into account for the purpose of the disability support pension application.

The court reasoned that to assign an Impairment Rating, a condition must be permanent, meaning it has been fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised, and is likely to persist for more than two years. The court found that while Mr Douglas suffered from a spinal impairment and a mental health impairment, there was insufficient corroborating evidence, treatment history, or stability information regarding his neck, knee, hand, and shoulder conditions to consider them for the purpose of the application. Consequently, the court could not assign an Impairment Rating of 20 or more points based on the available evidence.