Christian loses case

Tribunal upholds Centrelink

A DEVOUT Christian woman whorefused Buddhist-based therapies such as mindfulness has lost a legal bid for a disability support pension amid her claims of mental ill health.

The woman lodged a Centrelink claim in July 2017, claiming she was suffering from a depressive disorder that meant she wasn’t able to work a minimum of 15 hours a week.

But her claim was refused on the grounds her illness wasn’t fully treated or stabilised at the time of her claim.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia, in a recently published decision, said there was a lack of consensus as to her diagnosis.

One doctor said she had depression, another said an anxiety disorder or even post-traumatic stress disorder, and a third diagnosed major depressive disorder. Whether the woman’ s condition was fully treated during the qualification period for her claim was at issue before the tribunal, given her religious beliefs prevented her from receiving typical therapies.

The woman’s treating psychologist told the tribunal he had an “eclectic” approach but felt he would alien ate her if he used treatments such as cognitive behaviour therapy.

“(The woman) confirmed that because of her Christian beliefs she was not open to any treatments that she perceived to be contrary to her faith,” tribunal member Lynette Rieper said. “She said, for example, that she would not accept treatment that had its origin sin the Buddhist faith such as mindfulness .”

The tribunal had “significant doubts” about whether the woman genuinely had a compelling reason for not undertaking therapy beyond supportive counselling.

The tribunal also had doubts about the woman’ s level of impairment, despite claims she needed a church worker to visit her twice a week for cooking, cleaning and other household tasks.

Ms Rieper noted evidence that the woman cooked for herself, kept her house in an orderly fashion, exercised and was “fully independent in activities of daily living”.

Upholding the previous decision refusing the claim, Ms Rieper noted evidence the woman had taken part in a 900km bike ride interstate and had a “wonderful time”.