Bartlett and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social services second review)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant against a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services to suspend his age pension and raise a debt against him. The applicant had been in receipt of an age pension, but his entitlements were suspended, and a debt was raised due to questions surrounding his residency status at the time of his claims and subsequent departures from Australia. The case was heard by Member L M Gallagher.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the decision to suspend the applicant's age pension and raise a debt was correct. This required determining whether the applicant was an Australian resident for the purposes of subsection 29(1) of the *Social Security (Administration) Act 1999* (Cth) at the time of his claim. Alternatively, the Tribunal was asked to consider whether the applicant had ceased to be an Australian resident before returning to Australia, or whether he had left Australia within two years of being granted the age pension. Further, the Tribunal had to determine if a debt had been incurred and, if so, whether it could be written off or waived.

The Tribunal found that the applicant was not an Australian resident on 1 October 2019, the date he lodged his claim for the age pension, nor had he been for several years prior. Consequently, the Tribunal held that the applicant's claim for the age pension was deemed not to have been made, as it was lodged at a time when he was not an Australian resident. The Tribunal concluded that the age pension should not have been granted or paid to the applicant from 1 October 2019 to 1 July 2022.

The Tribunal ordered that the reviewable decision be set aside and substituted. The applicant's age pension was cancelled from 1 October 2019, and he was found to have been overpaid the age pension in the amount of $52,163.48, which constituted a debt payable to the Commonwealth. The Tribunal further ordered that this debt should be recovered in full and not waived or written off, as there was no evidence to support such action.