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

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Secretary, Department of Social Services, regarding the Applicant, Ms Tara Burdekin, and her claim for Newstart Allowance. The central dispute revolved around the application of an Income Maintenance Period (IMP) to redundancy and leave entitlements received by the Applicant, and whether severe financial hardship warranted waiving this period. The matter was heard by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

The AAT was required to determine two primary legal issues: first, whether the Applicant was subject to an IMP and, if so, the duration of that period; and second, whether the Applicant experienced severe financial hardship due to unavoidable and/or reasonable expenditure, which would justify waiving the IMP.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision that an IMP applied to the Applicant's Newstart Allowance claim. In its reasoning, the AAT considered the Applicant's redundancy payment of $90,280.91. After subtracting unavoidable and reasonable expenditure, which was calculated at $63,409.73, the Applicant was left with $26,871.18 in liquid assets. As this amount significantly exceeded the threshold for severe financial hardship ($610.80), the Tribunal concluded that the discretion to waive the IMP could not be exercised under section 1068-G7AM of the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth). Consequently, the AAT affirmed the previous decision that an Income Maintenance Period applied to the Applicant's claim.