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

This matter concerned an application for reinstatement of an appeal that had been dismissed for non-appearance. The parties were Ms Weinrichova and the Secretary, Department of Social Services. The decision was made by Member D K Grigg of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether to grant Ms Weinrichova's application for reinstatement of her dismissed application. This required the Tribunal to consider the reasons for her non-appearance and the merits of her substantive application, particularly in light of the evidence regarding the delivery of notices.

The Tribunal reasoned that for an application for reinstatement to be granted, there must be a satisfactory explanation for the non-appearance. In this instance, the Tribunal was not satisfied with the explanation provided by Mr Holub, who represented Ms Weinrichova, regarding his non-receipt of the listing notice and subsequent dismissal notice. The Tribunal noted that the notices were sent to the usual address and were not returned, and that Mr Holub's assertion of not receiving telephone messages was not corroborated. The Tribunal applied the principles that in the absence of evidence of actual delivery, statutory provisions deem delivery to have occurred in the ordinary course of post, unless sufficient evidence is adduced to the contrary. The Tribunal found no such evidence and was not convinced that Mr Holub was unaware of the hearing date. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered that refusing reinstatement would not prejudice others in a similar position.

Consequently, the Tribunal refused Ms Weinrichova's application for reinstatement.