McHaffie and Secretary, Department of Social Services 20224452, 20227119

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered applications for the reinstatement of two matters, 2022/4452 and 2022/7119, brought by McHaffie against the Secretary, Department of Social Services. The core of the dispute concerned whether the original applications had been dismissed in error, thereby triggering the possibility of reinstatement under section 42A(10) of the relevant Act.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the circumstances of the dismissal of the original applications met the criteria for reinstatement under section 42A(10) of the Act. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess if the dismissal occurred due to an error, which would then justify the reinstatement of the matters.

Senior Member K Millar reasoned that the applications were not dismissed in error. The Tribunal found that the signing of settlement agreements, even if influenced by the applicant's then-current financial and personal circumstances, did not constitute an error in the dismissal process. Consequently, the conditions stipulated in section 42A(10) of the Act for reinstating the applications were not met. The applications for reinstatement were therefore dismissed.