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

This matter concerned an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) regarding the calculation of an applicant's age pension. The applicant, VHMP, challenged a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services (DSS) concerning the attribution of income from a testamentary trust. The dispute centred on whether the applicant was an "attributable stakeholder" in the trust and the appropriate income attribution percentage rate to be applied.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant was an attributable stakeholder in the testamentary trust for the purposes of assessing their age pension entitlement. This involved considering the applicant's role as sole trustee and beneficiary, and whether the trust itself was validly constituted. The core legal issue was how the income generated by the trust should be attributed to the applicant for social security purposes.

The Senior Member found that the applicant was indeed an attributable stakeholder. However, the Tribunal noted that the applicant had not been afforded procedural fairness regarding submissions on the date from which the pension should be recalculated. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the previous decision and remitted the matter to the Secretary for reconsideration and recalculation of the applicant's age pension from 6 October 2020.