Parkes and Repatriation Commission (Veterans' entitlements)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a claim by the Applicant for an increase in his disability pension, specifically seeking the special rate pension under section 24(2A) of the *Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986* (Cth). The Applicant, a veteran who served in Vietnam, claimed several defence-caused conditions, including acquired cataract, haemorrhoids, and malignant neoplasm of the prostate, and also sought an increase in his pension for cervical spondylosis. The primary dispute between the Applicant and the Repatriation Commission centred on whether the Applicant met the criteria for the special rate pension, particularly the requirement that his incapacity from war-caused injury or disease alone prevented him from continuing his last paid work.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the Applicant satisfied the conditions outlined in section 24(2A) of the Act. This included assessing whether the Applicant, having turned 65 before making his application, was prevented from continuing his last remunerative work due to incapacity from war-caused injury or disease. Furthermore, the Tribunal had to consider whether this prevention resulted in a loss of salary or wages that would not have been suffered if he were free from that incapacity, and whether he was totally and permanently incapacitated, meaning his war-caused incapacity alone rendered him incapable of undertaking remunerative work for more than 8 hours per week.

The Tribunal found that the Applicant had made an application for an increase in his pension after turning 65, and that his pension was assessed at 100% of the general rate, satisfying preliminary conditions of section 24(2A). While the Repatriation Commission did not dispute the Applicant's incapacity to undertake remunerative work for more than 8 hours per week, it contended that the "alone" test under section 24(2A)(d) was not met. However, the Tribunal ultimately varied the reviewable decision, granting the Applicant the extreme disablement adjustment in addition to his 100% general rate disability pension.