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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Ashour Chamoun against a decision of the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding a carer payment debt. The dispute arose from an overpayment of carer payment made to Mr Chamoun between 15 February 2016 and 14 June 2018. The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Chamoun had incurred a debt, and if so, whether any part of that debt should be waived or written off, particularly in light of allegations of administrative error by Centrelink.

The Tribunal considered whether Mr Chamoun had a debt under section 1223 of the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth) and found that he did, in the amount of $36,483.30. The Tribunal then examined the grounds for writing off a debt under section 1236 of the Act, finding none of the prescribed conditions were met. Crucially, the Tribunal considered whether the debt should be waived due to administrative error under section 1237A of the Act, which requires the Secretary to waive the proportion of a debt attributable solely to an administrative error if the debtor received the payment in good faith.

The Tribunal found that while there was an overpayment, it was not satisfied that the entire debt should be waived due to special circumstances. However, it determined that the portion of the debt attributable to the period from 28 June 2017 to 14 June 2018 was to be waived pursuant to section 1237A of the Act, acknowledging that this part of the overpayment was solely due to administrative error and that Mr Chamoun had received the payments in good faith. The remaining debt for the period 15 February 2016 to 27 June 2017 was deemed recoverable.