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

This matter concerned an application by Mr Lowe for review of a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding his eligibility for a disability support pension. The dispute centred on whether Mr Lowe met the medical qualification requirements for the pension during the relevant qualification period, which ran from 12 December 2019 to 12 March 2020. The court was required to determine if Mr Lowe had a physical, intellectual, or psychiatric impairment that rated 20 points or more under the Impairment Tables, as stipulated by section 94 of the *Social Security Act 1991*.

The legal issues before the court were whether Mr Lowe's medical conditions, specifically Hyperemesis/Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome, were "permanent" within the meaning of the Impairment Tables. This required assessing whether the condition had been fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised during the qualification period. The court also considered the medical evidence regarding the underlying cause of Mr Lowe's cyclical vomiting, noting that while some medical opinions suggested an anxiety-related cause, the majority of the evidence pointed towards a link with his extensive cannabis use.

The court reasoned that to qualify for the disability support pension, Mr Lowe's impairment must be rated at 20 points or more under the Impairment Tables, and the condition must be permanent. The rules for applying the Impairment Tables define "permanent" as a condition that has been fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised. While Mr Lowe had experienced cyclical vomiting since infancy and undergone extensive investigations and treatments, the medical evidence indicated that the underlying cause remained inconclusive and that he did not have an ongoing therapeutic relationship with a specialist aimed at resolving the root cause. Consequently, the court found that the condition could not be considered fully diagnosed, treated, and stabilised for the purposes of the Impairment Tables. The court affirmed the decision under review.