QDKH and National Disability Insurance Agency

This matter concerned an application by the Applicant to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) to review a decision made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (the Agency). The dispute arose from the Agency's decision not to approve certain supports for the Applicant, specifically one-on-one support at school and an intensive feeding therapy program. While the parties had reached an agreement regarding some supports, the Applicant sought to have additional supports considered by the Tribunal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to consider the additional supports that had not been the subject of an internal review by the Agency. The Applicant contended that these additional supports were reasonable and necessary and should be funded under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The Tribunal was required to determine the scope of its review powers in relation to decisions made under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth).

The Tribunal determined that its jurisdiction was limited to reviewing "reviewable decisions" as defined by section 99 of the Act. It found that a reviewable decision under section 100(6) must be a decision that has undergone an internal review process. As the additional supports sought by the Applicant had not been the subject of an internal review by the Agency, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider them. The Tribunal applied the principle that its powers are confined to the matters that have been properly referred to it through the statutory review process.

Consequently, the Tribunal made orders that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the additional supports requested by the Applicant.