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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered a dispute between the applicant, Mills, and the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding eligibility for a disability support pension. The applicant sought to overturn a decision that affirmed the rejection of his claim for this pension.

The central legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant met the eligibility requirements for a disability support pension under section 94 of the relevant Act. This required determining if the applicant had a physical, intellectual, or psychiatric impairment that, under the Impairment Tables, resulted in an impairment rating of 20 points or more. Crucially, the Tribunal had to assess whether the applicant's condition was fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised, as defined by the Impairment Tables instrument.

The Tribunal reasoned that to qualify for a disability support pension, all criteria under section 94 of the Act must be met. The Impairment Tables specify that an impairment rating can only be assigned if the condition is permanent, which in turn requires it to be fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised. The Tribunal noted that "fully diagnosed" and "fully treated" involve considering corroborating evidence, the treatment undertaken, and whether treatment is ongoing or planned. A condition is "fully stabilised" if further reasonable treatment is unlikely to result in significant functional improvement enabling work within two years, or if no such improvement is expected even with treatment, or if there's a compelling reason not to undertake treatment. As the Tribunal was unable to assign the required impairment ratings, it concluded the applicant did not meet the necessary criteria.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision, which was the AAT's prior decision of 4 February 2020, upholding the delegate's rejection of the applicant's claim for a disability support pension.