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

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services to affirm a decision that the applicant was not qualified for a Disability Support Pension. The applicant contended that she had physical impairments, specifically an upper limb condition and a spinal condition, which should qualify her for the pension. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether the applicant had a physical impairment and, if so, whether that impairment totalled 20 points or more under the relevant Impairment Tables.

The Tribunal considered medical reports from Dr Karen Chen, Dr Kai Li, and a Job Capacity Assessor. Dr Chen noted instability in the applicant's wrists with certain movements and a history of worsening symptoms with manual wrist work, assessing a moderate impact on the applicant's ability to function according to Table 2. However, regarding her spinal condition, Dr Chen found no functional impact on activities involving spinal function. Dr Li described the applicant's bilateral hand/wrist arthritis as a "loss of strength, mobility and dexterity" and assessed 10 points for the dominant hand and five for the non-dominant hand, but stated her back retained good range of movement with no disability according to the impairment guide. The Job Capacity Assessor noted difficulties with tasks such as picking up liquid cartons, using chopsticks, zippers, buttons, and shoelaces, and unscrewing bottle lids, but could manage typing on an iPad and loosely holding a pen.

The Senior Member, William Stefaniak AM RFD, found that while the applicant did have a physical impairment, her impairments did not total 20 points or more under the Impairment Tables. The Senior Member affirmed the decision under review.