HGLS and National Disability Insurance Agency

This matter concerned an application by HGLS (the Applicant) against the National Disability Insurance Agency (the Respondent) before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Applicant sought a statement of reasons for a decision made by the Respondent on 17 March 2022, arguing that the absence of such reasons prevented her from determining whether to appeal the decision to the Tribunal and potentially seeking leniency for late filing.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it should make an order under section 28 of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) for the Respondent to provide further particulars of the decision under review. This request was considered in light of a previous decision by the Tribunal on 27 July 2022, where it declined to make similar orders under section 38 of the Act.

The Tribunal, presided over by Buxton SM, reasoned that the purpose of a statement of reasons is to enable the Tribunal to conduct its review. It noted that the Applicant's submissions did not provide a basis to revisit the prior decision. The Tribunal had previously determined that the decision under review, along with attached reasons and supplementary information provided by the Respondent, sufficiently particularised the findings. The Tribunal also accepted that the Respondent should provide a Statement of Facts, Issues and Contentions to assist the Applicant and the Tribunal in understanding the decision.

The Tribunal therefore refused the Applicant's request for further orders for a statement of reasons, concluding that the existing information was sufficient for the Tribunal to conduct a full merits review.