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

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by an Authorised Review Officer to reject a claim for Special Benefit. The applicant, Ms Jafari, sought review of this decision before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The core dispute revolved around whether Ms Jafari had satisfied the requisite waiting period for receiving Special Benefit or, alternatively, whether a substantial change in her circumstances beyond her control warranted an abridgement of that period.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were twofold: first, whether Ms Jafari had served the relevant waiting period as required by the *Social Security Act 1991*; and second, if she had not, whether there had been a substantial change in her circumstances beyond her control that would permit an abridgement of this waiting period. The respondent’s original determination, upheld on review, was that Ms Jafari had not met the residency waiting period, having arrived in Australia on 17 October 2018 and applied for her visa on 20 January 2019, with the waiting period commencing from the latter date.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review. It found that Ms Jafari had not served the required waiting period, having only served approximately nine months of the four-year waiting period at the time of her Special Benefit application, excluding a period of overseas travel. Crucially, the Tribunal was not satisfied that there was any evidence of a substantial change in Ms Jafari’s circumstances beyond her control occurring within the relevant period between 30 January 2019 and 30 August 2019. While Ms Jafari raised issues concerning her husband's work, her own health, and financial hardship, the Tribunal found these did not constitute a substantial change within the specified timeframe or were not sufficiently evidenced. The Tribunal noted that a subsequent application for Special Benefit in March 2020 had been abridged due to COVID-19 response regulations, indicating a temporary waiver of waiting periods, but this did not affect the determination of the current claim.