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

This matter concerned a review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) of decisions made by the Secretary, Department of Social Services, regarding the cancellation of the Applicant's Disability Support Pension (DSP). The Applicant had left Australia in January 2017 and his DSP was subsequently cancelled. The Applicant contended that he should have been permitted to apply for indefinite portability of his DSP before departing and that he was unfairly prevented from doing so.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the Applicant's DSP was portable on or after 25 January 2017, and whether the Respondent was entitled to cancel the Applicant's DSP under section 80 of the *Social Security (Administration) Act 1999* with effect from 25 January 2017, on the grounds that it ceased to be payable under section 1215(1)(b) of the Act. A separate proceeding concerned a debt arising from an advance payment of the Applicant's pension.

The Tribunal found that the Applicant's DSP was not portable on or after 25 January 2017. It concluded that the Respondent was entitled to cancel the DSP as it ceased to be payable. In relation to the second proceeding, the Tribunal noted that a prior AAT decision affirming a debt for an advance payment had been settled by agreement, with the outstanding debt being waived and the Applicant's application to the Tribunal being dismissed.

Accordingly, the AAT affirmed the decision to cancel the Applicant's DSP. The second proceeding, concerning the debt, had been resolved by settlement and dismissal.