Brooker and Secretary, Department of Education, Skills and Employment

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by Mrs Brooker seeking review of a decision by the Secretary, Department of Education, Skills and Employment, to refuse her application for re-crediting of a FEE-HELP debt. Mrs Brooker had withdrawn from a unit of study, "CYB6002 – Networking Technologies," after the financial census date, and sought to have her debt of $3,980 remitted on the grounds of special circumstances.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mrs Brooker's circumstances met the criteria for special circumstances under paragraph 104-30(c) of the relevant Act. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess whether these circumstances were beyond her control, whether their full impact occurred on or after the census date, and whether they made it impracticable for her to complete the unit's requirements. The evidence indicated that Mrs Brooker enrolled in the unit on 23 September 2020, the teaching period commenced on 26 October 2020, and the census date was 5 November 2020. Mrs Brooker completed an assessment on 7 November 2020 and applied to withdraw from the unit on 11 November 2020, citing dissatisfaction with the course content and teaching quality.

The Tribunal found that while Mrs Brooker's dissatisfaction with the unit's content and teaching quality was genuine and its full impact became apparent after the census date, these circumstances were not beyond her control. The Tribunal noted that dissatisfaction with a unit of study, in itself, does not typically constitute an "unusual, uncommon or abnormal" situation as required by the guidelines. Furthermore, the Tribunal observed that teaching staff had attempted to address Mrs Brooker's concerns through email correspondence during the teaching period. The Tribunal also concluded that the circumstances did not make it impracticable for her to complete the unit's requirements.

Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the provisions of section 104-30 of the Act were not met. The decision under review, which affirmed the refusal to re-credit the FEE-HELP debt, was therefore affirmed.