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

The applicant, Mrs Berges, appealed a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which affirmed a decision by an authorised review officer of the Department of Human Services. The Department had refused to grant an extension of time to lodge income tax returns for the 2015-2016 financial year for Mrs Berges and her partner. This refusal meant that Mrs Berges was not eligible for supplementary and "top-up" family tax benefit (FTB) payments for that financial year, resulting in a loss of $7,733.58.

The legal issue before the court was whether the applicant had established "special circumstances" that warranted an extension of time to lodge her and her partner's tax returns, thereby entitling her to the outstanding FTB payments. The applicant contended that a combination of factors, including her husband's injury, dealings with WorkCover, the commencement of his business, her increased workload, her own health issues, managing three preschool children, a computer data virus, and issues with their accountant, constituted special circumstances.

The court considered the meaning of "special circumstances" as interpreted in previous case law, noting that it refers to circumstances that are unusual, uncommon, or exceptional, taking a case out of the ordinary and potentially rendering the strict application of legislation unfair or unjust. While the applicant argued that the cumulative effect of all the issues she faced amounted to special circumstances, the Tribunal found that only her health issues qualified as such. Ultimately, the Tribunal determined that the failure to lodge the tax returns by the deadline was not caused by special circumstances, but rather by the applicant and her partner not giving sufficient weight to the timeliness requirement for FTB purposes.