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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Stemm against a decision by a delegate of the Secretary of the Department of Social Services. The delegate had determined that Mr Stemm was not eligible for Newstart Allowance from an earlier date due to an Income Maintenance Period (IMP) applied to his redundancy payment. The Tribunal, constituted by Mr S. Webb, Member, was required to review this decision.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was the commencement date of Mr Stemm's Income Maintenance Period and whether the Tribunal had the discretion to foreshorten this period. Mr Stemm had received a redundancy payment from his former employer, GM Holden Limited, in May 2015. The delegate had calculated the IMP to commence on 18 July 2015 and end on 1 June 2017, meaning Mr Stemm could not receive Newstart Allowance until the latter date.

The Tribunal reasoned that the delegate had erred in calculating the commencement of the IMP. It found that the IMP should have commenced on 26 May 2015, the date Mr Stemm received his redundancy payment. Crucially, the Tribunal exercised its discretion under the relevant provisions of the *Social Security Act 1991* to foreshorten the IMP, determining that it was appropriate for the period to end on 28 October 2015. The Tribunal set aside the delegate's decision and remitted the matter to the Secretary to determine Mr Stemm's entitlements from that revised date.