Rechter and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social services second review)

This matter concerned an application for a disability support pension by the Applicant, Ms Rechter, against the Secretary of the Department of Social Services. The dispute centred on whether Ms Rechter qualified for the pension, specifically concerning the diagnosis, treatment, and stabilisation of her Meniere's disease during a relevant qualification period. The decision was made by Dr Damien Cremean, Senior Member, of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Ms Rechter satisfied the conditions stipulated in section 94(1) of the relevant Act, particularly subsections (a), (b), and (c). This involved determining if she suffered from Meniere's disease, if this condition was fully diagnosed, treated, and stabilised during the qualification period, and if it resulted in a severe functional impact. The Respondent contended that Ms Rechter failed to meet these criteria, leading to the affirmation of the original decision.

The Tribunal found that Ms Rechter satisfied section 94(1)(a) in suffering from Meniere's disease, a condition conceded by the Respondent to be fully diagnosed. However, the Tribunal was unable to find that the condition was fully treated and stabilised during the qualification period. This was because, within that period, Ms Rechter consulted her doctor and was prescribed Serc and Prednisolone, with the outcome of the Serc treatment (its lack of utility) only becoming known after the qualification period had ended. The Tribunal reasoned that trialling a treatment during the qualification period that proved ineffective afterwards did not equate to the condition being fully treated and stabilised at that time.

Consequently, as Ms Rechter did not satisfy the requirements of section 94(1)(b), the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider section 94(1)(c). The decision under review was therefore affirmed.