Farrall and National Disability Insurance Agency

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered a joint submission from Ms Farrall and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) regarding the Tribunal's jurisdiction to review a decision. The NDIA had approved Ms Farrall's NDIS plan on 22 May 2020. Subsequently, on 25 May 2020, a delegate of the NDIA's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) informed Ms Farrall that her request for an unscheduled plan review, specifically concerning a shelter for her ramp, would not be granted, citing that the request was not related to her disability-specific needs. Ms Farrall then sought a review of this decision.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to review the decision made by the NDIA delegate on 14 July 2020, particularly in so far as that decision reviewed and confirmed the CEO's earlier decision to approve Ms Farrall's statement of participant supports made on 22 May 2020. The Tribunal acknowledged that parties cannot confer jurisdiction by consent, and it must independently satisfy itself of its jurisdictional authority.

The Tribunal, presided over by Deputy S A Forgie P, determined that it did have jurisdiction to review the 14 July 2020 decision. The reasoning was that this decision, by reviewing and confirming the approval of the statement of participant supports, constituted a reviewable decision under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The Tribunal applied the principle that it must have jurisdiction to review decisions that fall within its statutory remit, even if the parties jointly submit that such jurisdiction exists. The Tribunal found that the decision to approve the statement of participant supports was a decision that it could review.