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

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Kubbere against a decision of the Secretary of the Department of Social Services affirming a decision that she did not qualify for a Disability Support Pension (DSP). The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) was required to determine whether Ms Kubbere's impairments were fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised, and whether she met the program of support requirements for DSP. The relevant assessment period for her claim was between 28 May 2015 and 27 August 2015.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Ms Kubbere's various medical conditions attracted sufficient impairment points under the relevant Impairment Tables, and whether she had satisfied the legislative requirement of undertaking a program of support for 18 months prior to lodging her claim. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess the points attributable to her lower limb condition, upper limb condition, and other reported impairments, and determine if these, in combination, met the threshold for DSP qualification, or if the program of support requirement was met.

The Tribunal found that Ms Kubbere's lower limb condition attracted 10 points, and her upper limb condition attracted 10 points. However, for other conditions such as high cholesterol, urinary incontinence, synovitis, tenosynovitis, occupational overuse syndrome, and chronic lower back pain, the evidence was not sufficiently clear that these were fully treated and stabilised to allow for point allocation. Crucially, even if the conditions attracted a minimum of 20 points, the Tribunal determined that Ms Kubbere had not satisfied the program of support requirement under s 94(1)(c) of the Social Security Act 1999. Evidence indicated that while she had been undertaking a program of support, a significant portion of it had occurred after her DSP claim was lodged, meaning the required 18-month period prior to the claim had not been met.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that Ms Kubbere did not satisfy the criteria for a DSP at that time. The Tribunal encouraged Ms Kubbere to consider lodging a further application after completing the 18-month program of support, suggesting this would increase her likelihood of success.