Neumueller and National Disability Insurance Agency

This matter concerned an application for review before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) brought by an applicant against the National Disability Insurance Agency (the Agency). The dispute centred on the applicant's contention that the Agency had made a decision on 12 February 2021 to decline requested supports for vehicle modifications, which was subsequently reviewed and confirmed by the Agency on 4 March 2021. The applicant argued that the Tribunal had jurisdiction to review this latter decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to review the Agency's decision. This required determining whether a valid "reviewable decision" had been made under section 99 of the *National Disability Insurance Act 2013* (the Act), and subsequently, whether a decision by a "reviewer" under section 100 of the Act had been made, which is a prerequisite for the Tribunal's jurisdiction under section 103 of the Act. The Tribunal also had to consider whether the applicant had met the procedural requirements for seeking an internal review.

The Tribunal reasoned that for it to have jurisdiction, there must be a decision made by a reviewer under section 100(6) of the Act. While the applicant's current NDIS plan (Plan 6), approved on 26 February 2020, constituted a reviewable decision under section 33(2) of the Act, the Tribunal found that no valid internal review had been completed at the time the application was lodged. The applicant's current plan had been conveyed with information about the internal review process and the three-month time limit. However, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not demonstrated that a reviewer had made a decision under section 100(6) of the Act prior to the application for review being filed.

Consequently, the Tribunal determined that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the application for review. The applicant's application was therefore dismissed.