Martin and Secretary, Department of Social Services

This matter concerned an application by Mr Martin for the reinstatement of his dismissed application for a disability support pension. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had dismissed Mr Martin's application for failing to attend a hearing on 20 September 2019, after multiple adjournment requests. Mr Martin subsequently applied for reinstatement of his application, which was opposed by the Secretary, Department of Social Services.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether to exercise its discretion under section 10 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth) to reinstate Mr Martin's application. This power is available if the Tribunal is satisfied that the application was dismissed in error. A further issue was whether Mr Martin had provided sufficient grounds to justify an extension of time for his application for reinstatement, which was lodged more than 28 days after he was notified of the dismissal.

The Tribunal reasoned that the discretion to reinstate an application should be exercised based on the justice of the circumstances. It found that Mr Martin's application was not dismissed in error, but rather due to his failure to attend the substantive hearing. The Tribunal also considered that the disability support pension claim dated back nearly four years and that it was unlikely Mr Martin could provide new evidence to demonstrate eligibility during the relevant qualification period. Reinstating the application in such circumstances would provide false hope and waste the resources of the parties and the Tribunal.

Consequently, the Tribunal refused Mr Martin's application for reinstatement.