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

This matter concerned an application for a disability support pension by Mr Irvine, with the Secretary of the Department of Social Services as the respondent. The dispute centred on whether Mr Irvine's multiple impairments qualified him for the pension under section 94 of the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth), specifically whether his impairments rated at 20 points or more under the Impairment Tables. The decision was made by Dr Stewart Fenwick, Senior Member, of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr Irvine's impairments, including those related to concentration, task completion, behaviour, planning, decision-making, and work/training capacity, met the threshold for a disability support pension. A further issue arose regarding the application of Table 9 – Intellectual Function, which required consideration of whether Mr Irvine's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) originated before he turned 18 and whether an appropriate IQ score was established.

The Senior Member reasoned that based on the evidence, including medical reports and Mr Irvine's personal history, he could assign moderate impairment ratings to descriptors concerning concentration and task completion, and behaviour, planning, and decision-making. While a mild impairment rating was assigned to the work/training capacity descriptor, the Senior Member found that four of the six descriptors under Table 5 resulted in a total impairment rating of 10 under that table. Regarding Table 9, the Senior Member noted a preliminary issue concerning the timing of the ADHD diagnosis and its origin, but ultimately found it unnecessary to resolve this threshold issue for the purposes of the decision.