A man who injured his penis at work when caustic soda was spilled onto his clothes has failed in a legal bid to claim the disability support pension.

The man was working as factory hand in December 2009 when the injury happened, and since then he has suffered ongoing pain in his penis.

Several years later his doctor diagnosed the problem as "penile neuropathic pain", but in 2012 Centrelink refused to pay him a pension on the grounds that the pain was not significant enough.

The man appealed to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal but was again knocked back and so earlier this month he took his case to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Sydney.

At the hearing the man explained that he could no longer work because the psychological and physical suffering was so severe.

He said the pain was always present but varied in intensity and explained that the only certain triggers seemed to be that of sexual activity and drinking too much alcohol.

He provided a note from his doctor explaining that he had not returned to work since the accident because of "chronic pain over his penile gland aggravated by rubbing or touching".

The same doctor also diagnosed him as suffering from anxiety and depression and having arthritis in his hands.

In its final decision late last week the tribunal found that the man's penis condition, while unusual, was a legitimate one.

But it found the impairment from the penis condition on its own was not severe enough to meet the necessary threshold for receiving the pension.

"The allocation of an impairment rating in this matter presents certain difficulties, namely the paucity [small amount] of corroborating medical evidence and the unusual nature of [the man's] condition," tribunal member Dr Ion Alexander said.

Dr Alexander found the man's depression and arthritis also failed to meet the necessary threshold, and ruled in Centrelink's favour.