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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by Mr Harrison concerning the refusal of an age pension. The Secretary of the Department of Social Services was the respondent. Mr Harrison had failed to meet the residence requirements for the age pension, leading to the refusal of his application. The respondent sought the dismissal of Mr Harrison's application before the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Harrison's application had reasonable prospects of success. This required the Tribunal to assess whether Mr Harrison could demonstrate that he met the relevant residence requirements for the age pension, or if there were any grounds upon which the refusal could be overturned.

The Tribunal exercised its discretionary power under paragraph 42B(1)(b) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) to dismiss the application. This power allows the Tribunal to dismiss an application if it is satisfied that the application has no reasonable prospects of success. The Tribunal found that Mr Harrison had not met the necessary residence requirements for the age pension, and therefore, his application was unlikely to succeed. Consequently, the Tribunal granted the respondent's application for dismissal.