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

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision made by the Department of Social Services regarding the assessment of the Applicant's age pension. The core dispute revolved around whether the Applicant's age pension should have been assessed based on her gross overseas income, specifically three French pensions she received. The Applicant had been in receipt of the age pension since August 2014 and had notified the Department of her French pensions in April 2015.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were twofold: first, whether the decision to assess the Applicant's age pension on the basis of her gross overseas income, made on 29 July 2015, was correct; and second, if that decision was not correct, whether any arrears of pension could be paid to the Applicant. The Applicant had provided information about the commencement date of her French pensions, which was 1 September 2009.

The Tribunal considered the relevant legislative framework, including the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth) and the *Social Security (Administration) Act 1999* (Cth), as well as policy advice contained in the Social Security Guide. The Respondent contended that section 55 of the Act, read with section 1064-E1, mandated the use of the ordinary income test, which defines "ordinary income" broadly. Crucially, section 1072 of the Act stipulated that a person's ordinary income for a period is their gross ordinary income from all sources, calculated without reduction, unless specific exceptions applied. The Social Security Guide further clarified that gross current rates of payments from overseas are generally treated as income for social security purposes, without deductions for tax, bank charges, or foreign debts, unless modified by international social security agreements.

Having considered all the evidence and the Applicant's concession that the legislation requires the calculation of age pension based on gross income, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review. The Tribunal found that the calculation of the Applicant's age pension rate was correct, having regard to the gross amount she received from her French pensions. Consequently, the Applicant's application for review was unsuccessful.