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

This matter concerned an application for the age pension by Mr Sharkey, who was seeking to have his claim reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Secretary of the Department of Social Services opposed the application. The dispute centred on whether Mr Sharkey had validly lodged his claim for the age pension.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Sharkey's online submission of an age pension claim on 17 December 2014 constituted a valid claim under the relevant legislation, specifically section 29 of the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth) (the Administration Act), which requires the claimant to be in Australia at the time of lodging the claim. The Tribunal also considered whether any international agreements to which Australia is a party could override this requirement, although it noted Australia has no such agreement with Fiji, where Mr Sharkey was located at the time.

The Tribunal found that while Mr Sharkey stated he did not intend to submit his claim on 17 December 2014 and later attended a Centrelink office on 22 December 2014 to request its discard, the objective evidence, including the Online Claim History, plainly showed that the application was lodged on 17 December 2014. The Tribunal emphasised that it was bound to interpret and apply the legislation as enacted and could not exercise discretion based on perceived fairness. As Mr Sharkey was not in Australia when he lodged his claim on 17 December 2014, the claim was therefore taken not to have been made pursuant to section 29 of the Administration Act.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.