Re Wybrow and Secretary, Department of Social Security

This matter concerned an application for an age pension by Mr Markopoulos, with the Secretary of the Department of Social Security as the respondent. The dispute centred on whether Mr Markopoulos had met the qualifying Australian residence requirements for the pension. The decision was made by Mr J F Toohey SM.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine whether Mr Markopoulos was an Australian resident for the purposes of the social security legislation during specific periods. This involved assessing his physical presence in Australia, his intention to reside there, and the continuity of his association with Australia, particularly in light of his periods of absence overseas.

The court applied the principles of residence as articulated in *Hafza v Director-General of Social Security*, which emphasise that physical presence and intention must coincide, but that a person does not necessarily cease to be a resident of a place simply due to physical absence if they retain a continuity of association and an intention to return, treating that place as "home". The court was satisfied, based on the evidence, that Mr Markopoulos retained a continuity of association with Australia and intended to return, continuing to treat Australia as his home during his periods of absence in Greece between 1973 and 1976. The court found that Mr Markopoulos was an Australian resident from 27 February 1967 to 18 April 1977, and again from 27 August 2015 to 19 February 2016. As the first period exceeded five years and the aggregate of these periods exceeded 10 years, the court found that Mr Markopoulos had qualifying Australian residence during the claim period. The court was not satisfied that he was an Australian resident between 18 April 1977 and 27 August 2015.