CASE: Pietsch and Secretary, Department of Social Services [2024] AATA 2678

But there was a bug in their budding romance. For 6 years Russell had been receiving the age pension at the single rate and now that he was in a relationship, his payments were cut.

Russell was not going to take this lying down! He appealed all the way to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The key question for consideration was this: Was there any special reason why Russell should continue to receive the single age pension when he was not single?