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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mrs Gjorsevska against a decision of the Social Services and Child Support Division of the Tribunal, which affirmed the Secretary's decision that she was not eligible for a Disability Support Pension (DSP) in relation to her claim made on 8 February 2016. The dispute centred on whether Mrs Gjorsevska met the criteria for DSP, specifically concerning the severity and permanency of her impairments.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether Mrs Gjorsevska qualified for DSP on 8 February 2016, or if she qualified within the subsequent 13-week period, as provided by clause 4(1) of Schedule 2 of the *Social Security (Administration) Act 1999*. This required assessing whether her impairments, when allocated points under the Impairment Tables, reached the threshold of 20 points or more, as stipulated by section 94(1)(b) of the relevant Act. A secondary issue involved the interpretation of "permanency of conditions" as defined in the Determination.

The Tribunal considered extensive medical evidence, including a Job Capacity Assessment report, which confirmed Mrs Gjorsevska suffered from a range of physical and psychological impairments at the time of her claim. While the Secretary did not dispute that Mrs Gjorsevska had impairments satisfying section 94(1)(a) of the Act, the crucial determination was the point allocation under the Impairment Tables. The Tribunal found that Mrs Gjorsevska's impairments were allocated only 5 impairment points. As section 94(1)(b) requires a minimum of 20 points, this condition was not met.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the previous decision and affirmed the original decision that Mrs Gjorsevska was not eligible for a Disability Support Pension in relation to her 8 February 2016 claim, as all conjunctive requirements of section 94 of the Act had not been satisfied.