Nguyen and Repatriation Commission (Veterans' entitlements)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr. Nguyen against a decision of the Repatriation Commission regarding his age service pension assessment. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was tasked with determining whether an asset value of $350,000 for a property was correctly recorded in the applicant's service pension assessment from 12 September 2018, and whether a net assessable amount of $340,000 was correctly held as a deprived asset in the same assessment.

The Tribunal was required to consider the correct valuation of the applicant's property for the purposes of his pension assessment. Specifically, it needed to determine if a desktop valuation of $700,000, which led to the delegate's assessment of $350,000 for the applicant's share, accurately reflected the property's value. The Tribunal also had to assess whether the net assessable amount of $340,000 was correctly classified as a deprived asset.

The Tribunal found that the delegate's reliance on the LMW desktop valuation was erroneous. This valuation incorrectly stated that the applicant sold the entire property for $315,000. In fact, on 12 September 2018, the applicant transferred a one-half share of the property to relatives for nil consideration, with the value of that transferred share being $315,000. The applicant retained the other half, valued at $315,000, making the total property value $630,000. The Tribunal accepted the applicant's evidence that he relied on a Colliers International valuation of $630,000 for stamp duty purposes.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the delegate's decision and remitted the matter for reconsideration, noting that its findings were in favour of the applicant, though not entirely for the reasons he advanced.