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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Mrs Maher and the Secretary, Department of Social Services, concerning the cancellation of Mrs Maher's age pension. Mrs Maher had been receiving the age pension since 2007 and maintained the same postal address. The Department had issued notices on 1 August 2016 and 29 August 2016 requesting information about her income stream, with a warning that her payment might be stopped if the information was not provided within 21 days. Subsequently, on 26 September 2016, her pension was suspended due to non-response, and on 28 December 2016, it was cancelled. Mrs Maher contended that she had not received these notices.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mrs Maher's age pension was correctly cancelled and whether it could be reinstated from the date of cancellation. A key element of the dispute was whether Mrs Maher had received, or was legally deemed to have received, the notices sent by the Department. The Tribunal also had to consider the effect of the time taken to request a review on the date from which any reinstated entitlement might be payable.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 237 of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (Cth), a notice posted to a person's last known postal address is taken to have been given to that person, even if they did not actually receive it, unless they can prove otherwise. The Tribunal found no evidence that the notices sent to Mrs Maher were not correctly addressed or posted. Therefore, it applied the principle that Mrs Maher was taken to have received the notices. The Tribunal also noted that if a review of a decision is sought more than 13 weeks after notification, any favourable determination can only take effect from the date the review was sought, as per section 109(2) of the Administration Act.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel Mrs Maher's age pension. It concluded that there was insufficient evidence to displace the presumption that she had received the notices. Consequently, the cancellation was upheld, and the pension could not be reinstated from the date of cancellation, but rather from the date of her subsequent claim or review request, depending on the timing of that request relative to the 13-week review period.