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

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Jaeger against a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding her eligibility for a disability support pension. The dispute centred on whether Ms Jaeger suffered from impairments that were fully diagnosed, treated, and stabilised during the relevant claim period, which was from 22 July 2015 to 21 October 2015. The case was heard by Professor R McCallum AO, Member.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if Ms Jaeger's impairments, specifically benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and spinal conditions, had been fully diagnosed, treated, and stabilised within the claim period. If an impairment met these criteria, the Tribunal was then required to assess it under the relevant impairment tables for the purpose of determining her eligibility for a disability support pension.

The Tribunal found that while Ms Jaeger suffered from vertigo, there was insufficient medical evidence to conclude it was fully diagnosed, treated, and stabilised during the claim period. Regarding her spinal impairments, which included a long-standing back injury at L4/L5 and a more recent lesion at L3, the Tribunal accepted they were fully diagnosed. However, the question of whether they were fully treated, stabilised, and permanent was more complex. Despite acknowledging Ms Jaeger's ongoing physiotherapy for pain maintenance and a lengthy wait for specialist consultation, the Tribunal, having regard to medical certificates indicating temporary exacerbations of a permanent condition and the Job Capacity Assessment, was satisfied on balance that her spinal condition could be considered fully treated and stabilised as at the date of the claim. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.