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

This matter concerned an application for a disability support pension (DSP) by Mr Mani against the Secretary of the Department of Social Services. The applicant, born in 1959, had a history of injury from a 1986 car accident and most recently worked as an industrial spray painter. The core of the dispute revolved around whether Mr Mani met the legislative criteria for qualification for the DSP.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr Mani possessed a physical, intellectual, or psychiatric impairment, and if so, whether that impairment was rated at 20 points or more under the Impairment Tables. Furthermore, the Tribunal needed to consider if the applicant had a continuing inability to work, a requirement for DSP eligibility. The legislation stipulated that for an impairment to be considered "permanent" for DSP purposes, it must be fully diagnosed, fully treated, fully stabilised, and likely to persist for more than two years, with no expectation of significant improvement enabling work within that timeframe.

The Tribunal found that while Mr Mani did have a physical impairment as required by section 94(1)(a) of the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth), he failed to meet the crucial threshold of achieving an impairment rating of 20 points or more under the Impairment Tables. Consequently, the Tribunal determined it was unnecessary to assess whether Mr Mani had a continuing inability to work.

As Mr Mani did not satisfy the minimum impairment rating requirement, his claim for DSP could not succeed. Accordingly, the decision under review was affirmed.