Papakostas and National Disability Insurance Agency

The Applicant, Mr Papakostas, sought to challenge a decision of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) concerning his access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The matter came before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was the validity of a second decision issued by the NDIA, which appeared to contradict an earlier decision, in circumstances where the initial decision had not been validly revoked. The Tribunal was required to determine whether this second, contradictory decision was legally effective.

The Tribunal reasoned that the NDIA had issued a second decision on 11 October 2021, which affirmed an earlier decision of 28 May 2021, without having validly revoked the initial decision. As such, the second decision was considered invalid. The Tribunal exercised its power to set aside the invalid decision. The Tribunal ordered that the decision dated 11 October 2021 be set aside and remitted to the NDIA with a direction to either commence discussions with the Applicant to develop a participant plan of supports or make a revocation decision pursuant to section 30 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) by 5:00pm on Friday 29 July 2022. The Tribunal also determined that the Applicant is a participant in the Scheme since 18 May 2021.