Ryan and National Disability Insurance Agency

This matter concerned an application by Maxwell John Ryan for review of a decision that he did not meet the access requirements of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth). The dispute centred on whether Mr Ryan met the age requirement for accessing the scheme. The decision was made by D. Connolly SM of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the age requirement stipulated in sections 21 and 22 of the NDIS Act, which mandates that an applicant be aged under 65 years when making an access request, was a mandatory and non-discretionary criterion for accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The Tribunal reasoned that it was statutorily obligated to apply the current law, which includes the age requirement. It found that there was no discretion within the NDIS Act that would permit the age requirement to be disregarded, irrespective of an applicant's specific circumstances. As Mr Ryan was not aged under 65 on the date his access request was made, the Tribunal concluded that his application for review could not succeed.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that Mr Ryan's application had no reasonable prospect of success and was dismissed pursuant to paragraph 42B(1)(b) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth). The Tribunal agreed to provide written reasons due to Mr Ryan's involvement in a class action challenging the age requirement as discriminatory under international law.