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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Booth and the Secretary, Department of Social Services, concerning the applicant's eligibility for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) payments. The dispute centred on an alleged debt to the Commonwealth arising from overpayments of FTB and Parenting Payment (PPP). It was common ground between the parties that a debt had indeed been incurred due to the applicant not entering her income estimate correctly.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant was entitled to the FTB and PPP payments she received, and if not, whether the overpayments constituted a debt due to the Commonwealth. The Tribunal was also required to consider whether the provisions for waiving or writing off such debts under section 1237A of the *Social Security Act 1991* and section 97 of the *A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999* applied in this instance.

The Tribunal found that the applicant's PPP payment was correctly cancelled and that there had been an overpayment of FTB payments for several financial years, resulting in a debt due to the Commonwealth. While acknowledging the applicant's submission that she had received conflicting advice from Centrelink staff and was being treated for psychological conditions, the Tribunal noted that the applicant had received numerous written notices regarding her reporting obligations. The applicant accepted that she had received these letters, although she did not recall some of them and stated she should have read them more carefully. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had an explicit obligation to provide information which would have halted the overpayments earlier, and her belief that the Department would receive tax information directly from the ATO did not extinguish this obligation. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the waiver and write-off provisions did not apply.

The Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision, finding that the overpayment of PPP and FTB to which the applicant was not entitled constituted a debt due and payable to the Commonwealth, and that the debts had been correctly calculated.