Wells and Secretary, Department of Health

The applicant, Wells, sought review of a decision by the Secretary, Department of Health, concerning their entitlement to assistance under aged care assessment provisions. The dispute centred on the valuation of assets attributed to the applicant, specifically those held within a designated private trust. Deputy President Bernard J McCabe presided over the matter.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was an "attributable stakeholder" to the full value of the assets within the private trust for the purposes of the aged care assessment. This required the Tribunal to determine whether the applicant exercised sufficient control over the trust to attribute its assets to them.

The Tribunal applied the "control test" to ascertain the applicant's relationship with the trust. It concluded that the applicant was indeed an attributable stakeholder entitled to 100% of the trust's assets at the time of the assessment. Given that these assets exceeded the maximum threshold for assistance, the Tribunal affirmed the original decision. The Tribunal noted that the applicant's circumstances might change, potentially affecting future assessments.