Carlos and Secretary, Department of Education

This matter concerned an application by Ms Carlos for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) payments. The Secretary of the Department of Education had determined that Ms Carlos was not eligible for CCS payments from 12 July 2022 due to a failure to meet reconciliation conditions for the 2020-2021 financial year. Ms Carlos sought review of this decision, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the reviewable decision should be affirmed.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether "special circumstances" existed that prevented Ms Carlos and her partner, Mr Lucius, from lodging Mr Lucius's income tax return by the statutory deadline of 30 June 2022. If special circumstances were found, the Tribunal would then consider whether these circumstances warranted the exercise of discretion to allow a longer period for meeting the CCS reconciliation conditions. The Tribunal was also required to consider whether any identified circumstances actually prevented the lodgement of the tax return within the required timeframe.

The Tribunal reasoned that while the circumstances faced by Ms Carlos and Mr Lucius, including the closure of Mr Lucius's business and delays related to cryptocurrency trading and accounting, were challenging, they did not rise to the level of "special circumstances" as interpreted by case law. The Tribunal noted that "special circumstances" typically refer to events or situations that are unusual, uncommon, or exceptional, and render the operation of the statute unfair, unintended, or unjust. The Tribunal found that the events, though difficult, were not sufficiently exceptional to take the case out of the ordinary. Furthermore, the Tribunal was not satisfied that these circumstances prevented the finalisation of Mr Lucius's income tax return and the meeting of the CCS reconciliation conditions by the deadline.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision. Ms Carlos's CCS payments were to remain at zero from 12 July 2022, and she would need to meet the reconciliation conditions for all income years in which CCS entitlement was determined before she could make a new effective claim for CCS.