DZNB and National Disability Insurance Agency

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a dispute between DZNB, a participant in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). The core of the dispute concerned the NDIA's decision to approve a statement of participant supports (SPS) which led to the commencement of a participant plan (Plan A). DZNB sought an internal review of this primary decision.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether it had jurisdiction to review the NDIA's internal review decision, particularly in light of the subsequent issuance of a new participant plan (Plan B). This involved considering whether the internal review decision, which did not explicitly state whether it varied or substituted the original decision, and the subsequent issuance of Plan B, affected the Tribunal's jurisdiction to review the decision as it stood after the internal review.

The Tribunal reasoned that the internal review decision, despite not being explicitly framed as a variation or substitution, effectively varied the original decision by approving specific supports. The subsequent issuance of Plan B, which incorporated the supports approved in the internal review decision, did not extinguish the Tribunal's jurisdiction to review the decision that had been made on internal review. The Tribunal applied principles of administrative law concerning the nature of decisions and the effect of subsequent actions on reviewable decisions.

The Tribunal found that it had jurisdiction to review the internal review decision.