Kingswood and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social Services Second Review)

This matter concerned an appeal by the Applicant against a decision affirming a refusal to grant her a Disability Support Pension (DSP). The core dispute revolved around whether the Applicant met the legislative requirements for DSP qualification during a specified "qualification period," which was the date of her claim (23 March 2021) and the 13 weeks following. The case was heard by Brigadier A G Warner, AM LVO (Retd), Member.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Applicant had impairments that were fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised during the qualification period, and whether these impairments attracted an impairment rating of 20 or more points under the Impairment Tables, as required by section 94 of the relevant Act. Additionally, the Tribunal was required to consider whether the Applicant had a continuing inability to work, a criterion of equal importance to the impairment threshold.

The Tribunal reasoned that for a condition to be considered permanent for DSP purposes, it must be fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised, and likely to last for more than two years. Applying this to the Applicant's circumstances, the Tribunal found that while her urinary incontinence was fully diagnosed, there was insufficient evidence to establish that it was fully treated and stabilised within the qualification period. Furthermore, the Applicant's mental health conditions were not considered fully diagnosed according to the requirements of the Impairment Tables. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that the Applicant's impairments attracted only 5 points under the Impairment Tables, falling short of the required 20 points.

As the Applicant failed to meet the minimum impairment threshold under section 94(1)(b) of the Act, the Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the criterion of a continuing inability to work. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that the Applicant did not qualify for DSP during the relevant qualification period.