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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the appeal of an applicant against a decision by the Secretary, Department of Social Services, concerning the applicant's eligibility for a disability support pension. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicant's medical conditions met the criteria for receiving this pension, specifically concerning the severity and stability of those conditions during a defined "Relevant Period."

The Tribunal was required to determine several key issues. Firstly, it needed to ascertain if the applicant had physical, intellectual, or psychiatric conditions that were fully diagnosed, treated, and stabilised during the Relevant Period. Secondly, the Tribunal had to assess whether these conditions warranted an impairment rating of 20 or more points under the relevant Impairment Tables. If this threshold was met, the Tribunal would then consider whether the applicant suffered a severe impairment of 20 or more points under a single Impairment Table, or if not, whether a Program of Support had been completed. Finally, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant had a continuing inability to work.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal accepted that the applicant had impairments for the purposes of the Social Security Act. However, the central contention from the respondent was that these impairments did not attract a rating of 20 or more points under the Impairment Tables. The Tribunal examined each of the applicant's conditions, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea, and gout. While the respondent conceded that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes were fully diagnosed, treated, and stabilised, the Tribunal found that the applicant's obesity had not been the subject of a treatment regime. Ultimately, the Tribunal concluded that, based on the medical evidence available for the Relevant Period, it was not possible to assign 20 impairment points to any one or group of the applicant's claimed conditions.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that the applicant did not qualify for a disability support pension because his conditions could not be assigned the requisite impairment points during the Relevant Period. The Tribunal noted that updated medical reports might support a fresh application in the future.