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

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Ward against a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding her eligibility for a Disability Support Pension. The central dispute revolved around whether Ms Ward's mental health condition met the criteria for the pension, specifically concerning diagnosis, treatment, and stabilisation, and whether this impairment attracted a rating of 20 or more points under the relevant Impairment Tables. The decision was made by D K Grigg M.

The legal issues before the court were whether Ms Ward's mental health condition was fully diagnosed, fully treated, and fully stabilised for the purposes of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) and its associated Determination. Furthermore, the court had to determine if the impairment resulting from this condition attracted an impairment rating of 20 or more points, as required by section 94(1)(b) of the Act. This involved assessing the functional impact of the impairment and whether it was likely to persist for more than two years.

The court's reasoning focused on the criteria outlined in the Determination for assessing whether a condition is "permanent." This required consideration of whether the condition had been fully diagnosed by a qualified medical practitioner, fully treated, and fully stabilised. The court noted that a condition is considered fully stabilised if reasonable treatment has been undertaken and is unlikely to lead to significant functional improvement enabling work in the next two years, or if no reasonable treatment has been undertaken and significant improvement is not expected, or if there are compelling reasons not to undertake treatment. The court found that Ms Ward suffered a psychiatric impairment, namely anxiety and depression, for the purposes of the Act, and that the requirement in section 94(1)(a) had been met.