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

This matter concerned an application for a second review by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) that granted Mr Rylko a disability support pension. The central dispute revolved around whether Mr Rylko's medical condition met the legislative requirements for the pension at the relevant qualification period.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether, during the qualification period, Mr Rylko's condition was fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised; whether he suffered a severe impairment of 20 impairment points or more under a single Impairment Table; and whether he had a continuing inability to work within two years of the qualification period. The Tribunal was required to assess Mr Rylko's condition as it existed during the qualification period, giving considerable weight to evidence from that time.

The Tribunal found that Mr Rylko's condition was not fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised during the qualification period. While various medical practitioners had offered diagnoses such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia, post-infective syndrome, and an immune response to a tick bite, there was no definitive consensus or complete diagnosis that met the legislative criteria. Reports from specialists in late 2013 and 2014 indicated uncertainty or an inability to attribute ongoing symptoms to the initial tick bite, and a physician in November 2015 offered an opinion that the tick bite "appears to have set off" an immune response, suggesting a process rather than a fully diagnosed and stabilised condition.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it was not necessary to consider the other grounds relating to severe impairment or continuing inability to work. The application for review was successful, the AAT's previous decision was set aside, and Mr Rylko's claim for a disability support pension lodged on 2 June 2015 was refused.