(a) The date of the earlier AAT decision and the time period of this application are completely different; > > (b) He does not have his latest independent medical examiner report and have not been able to read its recommendations; > > (c) There is a public interest disclosure issue currently on foot with the Department of Home Affairs that will not be resolved until February 2026. The applicant contends that the results of this 'investigation is critical for my arguments against the misconduct of Comcare and its lawyers'; > > (d) He will not issue subpoenas until after Senate Estimates; > > (e) A Senate inquiry announced recently will bring more information to light about defrauding of the Commonwealth; > > (f) For the above reasons, the applicant says he is waiting to see what legal action may be necessary to hold Comcare and others to account; > > (g) The applicant expects more investigations to be opened in the coming months. He suggests that having the hearing as planned in February 2026 will leave him at a significant disadvantage as all evidence will not be available.

7. The submission falls short of seeking to adjourn the hearing set down for February 2026. In considering whether this application should be heard with the others, I will proceed on the basis that the February 2026 hearing will go ahead.
8. The issue in all of the proceedings that are listed is not whether the applicant suffered from a compensable ailment as a consequence of his work, it is accepted that from July 2021 that he did. The issue to be determined is whether after November 2022 he continued to suffer from that ailment and if he did, whether his employment continued to contribute to his ailment to a significant degree. In these circumstances, it is unlikely to be necessary to determine the precise facts about the degree of stress the applicant was under and for what reason when he stopped work in July 2021. The more relevant question is whether the symptoms persisted beyond November 2022 and if they did, whether the ailment he suffered from continued to be contributed to to a significant degree by employment factors, as required for the applicant to be suffering from a compensable disease. These issues are central to all of the applications before the Tribunal including this one.
9. I accept the respondent's submission that there is substantial commonality between the issues of fact and law in the five applications and so if they can be dealt with fairly together, they should be heard together.
10. The only argument raised by the applicant that that suggests that there is an impact on the fair hearing of this application if it is joined to the others is the argument that he may not have been able to raise the specific issues in this application with his independent medical examiner. If that is indeed the case and it has an impact on the conduct of the application, then that would be a basis for keeping the hearing of this application separate.
11. However, at this point the majority of the medical issues in this application are common to the other applications. To the extent that this application raises additional issues, there is still time for the applicant to get evidence on those issues before his documentary evidence is due to be filed and served.
12. As I am satisfied that there are common issues between this application and those listed for hearing in February 2026, and, at least at this point in time I am satisfied that there is no unfairness visited upon the applicant in hearing them together, I make the following orders:

1. Application 2025/5501 is joined to and will be heard concurrently with applications 2024/3006, 2024/3007, 2024/3008 and 2024/7384; 2. Pursuant to s 53 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (Cth), and until further order, the issues that the Tribunal will consider at the hearing are limited to:

(a) In relation to 2025/5501: > > > (i) whether as at 24 July 2025, and presently, Dr Elias' 'adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood' remained significantly contributed to, by his employment; > > > > (ii) if so, as at 24 July 2025 and presently, did Dr Elias continue to suffer the effects of his 'adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood'; > > > > (iii) if so, was the '28 Day Residential Treatment Program and Withdrawal Management' medical treatment obtained by Dr Elias in relation to his 'adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood' and was it reasonable for him to obtain that treatment in the circumstances.

[1] T-Documents (2025/5501), T13, 157-159.