The DSP medical evidence report: diagnosed, treated, stabilised, and what the Impairment Tables need to see

Disability Support Pension medical evidence is read by an assessor applying three legal tests: that the condition is fully diagnosed, treated and stabilised; that the impairment rates at least 20 points under the Impairment Tables; and that the person cannot work 15 hours a week within the next two years. Your report is evidence for each. It succeeds when it addresses the tests in their own terms, describes function in the areas the Tables measure, and says plainly that the condition is not expected to improve significantly in two years with or without further reasonable treatment.

By PsychDispatch · Last reviewed 3 September 2026 · Drafted in PsychDispatch by the Centrelink DSP - Medical Evidence Report preset

What this report is for

The reader is an assessor, a job capacity assessor or a government-contracted doctor, applying the Social Security Act's tests for the Disability Support Pension. They do not treat the person and they are not asking for a clinical letter. They are asking whether the evidence establishes that the condition is fully diagnosed, treated and stabilised; what the functional impact is, so they can rate it under the Impairment Tables; and whether the person can work 15 hours a week within two years. Your report is evidence on each point, and the shape of the report should be the shape of the tests.

The three tests

  1. Fully diagnosed, treated and stabilised. Diagnosed by a practitioner the Tables recognise for the condition (a psychiatrist's diagnosis meets this for a mental health condition). Treated: reasonable treatment has been undertaken. Stabilised: not expected to improve significantly within the next two years, with or without further reasonable treatment. Ongoing treatment is compatible with being stabilised; an untried reasonable treatment, or a hopeful prognosis, is not.
  2. At least 20 points under the Impairment Tables. The Tables rate functional impact, not diagnosis. Mental health conditions are rated under the mental health function Table, with cognitive effects and substance-related function under Tables of their own. A rating of 20 or more under a single Table is a severe impairment; reaching 20 across several Tables generally brings in the program of support requirement below.
  3. A continuing inability to work. That the impairment alone prevents the person from working, or being retrained for work, of 15 hours or more a week within the next two years, independently of a program of support. Where the impairment is not severe on a single Table, the person must also have actively participated in a program of support for a defined period; check the current rule.

The Impairment Tables were remade in 2023 and the guidelines to them are detailed; the Social Security Guide chapter is linked under Sources and is the document the assessor is working from.

What it must contain

  1. Your standing. Treating psychiatrist since when, frequency of review, date last seen. Currency matters: the assessor is rating present impairment.
  2. The diagnosis, and its basis. The condition, how it was diagnosed, and when. This meets the "fully diagnosed" limb for a mental health condition.
  3. The treatment history, completely. Every reasonable treatment undertaken, with dates, duration and outcome: medications and doses, psychological therapies, hospital admissions, community programmes. This is the "treated" limb, and an assessor who cannot see that a reasonable treatment was tried will find the condition not stabilised.
  4. The stabilisation statement. In plain words: the condition is not expected to improve significantly within the next two years, with or without further reasonable treatment, and why. If treatment continues, say what it aims at.
  5. Functional impact, in the Tables' areas. For a mental health condition: self-care and independent living, social and interpersonal function, concentration and completing tasks, coping with change, planning and decision making, behaviour and interaction in a workplace, travel. For each: what the person can and cannot do, how often, with what support, and a concrete example. Typical and bad days, not good ones.
  6. The pattern over time, where the condition is episodic: frequency, duration and depth of episodes, function between them, and the effect of treatment on the pattern.
  7. Supports in place, and what function looks like without them.
  8. Work capacity. The hours a week the person could sustain, in what kind of work, and the functional reasons for that figure. Whether retraining is realistic, and why.
  9. A summary against the three tests, in order, in one paragraph.
  10. Signature block, with registration and provider numbers and the date.

Writing "stabilised" honestly

The word does the most work in the report and is the most often written wrongly. It does not mean well, or unchanging, or finished with treatment. It means that on the treatment history in front of you, the condition is not expected to improve significantly within two years whether or not further reasonable treatment is given. Write that sentence, and support it with the treatment history. A report that says "responding to treatment" or "may improve with further therapy" is read as evidence that the condition is not stabilised, and the claim is refused on that ground however severe the impairment.

Where reports fall short

  • The diagnosis and symptoms are described; function is not, so the assessor has nothing to rate.
  • The treatment history is thin or missing, so "treated" cannot be established.
  • The prognosis hedges ("may improve", "responding"), so "stabilised" is defeated.
  • Function is described on a good day, or with informal support in place without saying so.
  • The report spreads across several Tables' areas thinly instead of addressing the mental health function Table fully.
  • Work capacity is a conclusion ("unable to work") with no hours and no reasoning.
  • The report is out of date, or from a clinician who has seen the person once.
  • It is written as a GP letter: history first, plan last, tests nowhere.

A skeleton that works

To Services Australia
Re: [Name], DOB [date], CRN [if known]. Medical evidence in support of a Disability Support Pension claim.
Treating clinician. I am a consultant psychiatrist and have treated [Name] since [date], seeing them approximately every [interval], most recently on [date].
Diagnosis. [Condition(s)], diagnosed on [date] on the basis of [assessment].
Treatment history. [Each treatment: what, when, duration, outcome. Admissions.]
Stabilisation. [Name]'s condition has been fully diagnosed and treated. In my opinion it is not expected to improve significantly within the next two years, with or without further reasonable treatment. Current treatment aims at [management / relapse prevention], not at recovery of function.
Functional impact.
- Self-care and independent living. [Description, frequency, support, example.]
- Social and interpersonal function. [...]
- Concentration and completing tasks. [...]
- Coping with change, planning and decision making. [...]
- Behaviour and interaction in a workplace. [...]
- Travel. [...]
Pattern over time. [Episodes: frequency, duration, depth; function between them; effect of treatment.]
Supports. [Who does what; function without them.]
Work capacity. In my opinion [Name] could not sustain work of [n] hours a week, in any kind of work, within the next two years, because [functional reasons]. Retraining is [not realistic / limited] because [reasons].
Summary. [Name]'s condition is fully diagnosed, treated and stabilised; it substantially impairs [areas]; and it prevents work of 15 hours or more a week within the next two years.
[Name, qualifications, AHPRA registration number, provider number, date]

Related documents

The Centrelink - ESAt / JCA Supporting Report preset addresses the employment services and job capacity assessments that sit alongside a claim, the Centrelink - Carer Payment Support preset is the evidence for a carer's claim about the person you treat, and the Centrelink / Gov - Super Early Release Support preset covers the separate compassionate-grounds evidence. Each has a different reader and a different test.

How PsychDispatch drafts this

The Centrelink DSP - Medical Evidence Report preset drafts the report around the three tests, and Patient Intelligence supplies what "treated" and "stabilised" rest on: the complete treatment history with dates, doses and outcomes, the admissions, and the functional observations recorded across years of consultations, so the stabilisation statement is supported by the record rather than by recollection. Every claim is verified against the source before you sign, and the report goes out on your letterhead.

Sources

FAQ

Questions about this letter.

What does "fully diagnosed, treated and stabilised" actually require?

Diagnosed by a practitioner the Tables recognise for that kind of condition (a psychiatrist's diagnosis meets the requirement for a mental health condition); treated, in that reasonable treatment has been undertaken; and stabilised, meaning the condition is not expected to improve significantly within the next two years, with or without further reasonable treatment. A person can be in ongoing treatment and still be stabilised. What defeats the test is evidence that a reasonable treatment has not yet been tried, or a prognosis that says the condition may improve substantially.

Do I assign the impairment rating?

No. The assessor rates the impairment under the Tables; your report supplies the evidence they rate. Describe function in the areas the relevant Table measures, concretely and with frequency, and describe severity in plain words. Do not write a points score into the report; it is not yours to give and it invites the assessor to discount the rest.

Why does a single-Table rating matter?

A rating of 20 or more points under a single Table is treated as a severe impairment, and the person does not then need to show participation in a program of support. Where the 20 points are reached only by combining Tables, they generally do. For a psychiatric condition, evidence that addresses the mental health function Table fully, rather than spreading thin across several, is what gives the assessor the basis for a single-Table rating.

The condition is episodic. How do I show it is stabilised?

Describe the pattern over time: frequency, duration and depth of episodes, function between them, the treatment tried across the cycle and its effect on the pattern. Stabilised does not mean symptom-free or unchanging; it means the pattern is established and not expected to improve significantly in two years. The NDIS guide in this library covers the same problem from a different Act's angle.

Should I write that the person is unable to work?

State what they could sustain, in hours per week, and why, with reference to the functional impact you have described. The legal test is 15 hours a week within two years, independently of a program of support, and the decision is the assessor's. A reasoned capacity statement is far more useful than a bare conclusion.

How recent does the evidence need to be?

Current. Services Australia expects evidence that reflects the person's present condition, so date the report, state when you last saw the person and how long you have treated them, and update it if a claim is delayed. Older reports are treated as history, not evidence of current impairment.

In PsychDispatch

Drafted from the consult by the Centrelink DSP - Medical Evidence Report preset.

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