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

This matter concerned applications by Mr Chung and Mrs Lai for review of decisions by the Secretary, Department of Social Services, to raise debts against them for overpayments of Newstart allowance and Parenting Payment. The applicants, who were self-represented and assisted by an interpreter, argued that the debts arose due to a lack of understanding of their obligations, reliance on interpreters, and administrative failures by Centrelink. The Department contended that the debts were correctly calculated due to the applicants' failure to advise Centrelink of changes in their asset ownership and value, which resulted in their assets exceeding the allowable limits for the payments received.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the recovery of the debts should be waived or written off, pursuant to section 1237AAD of the relevant Act. This section permits waiver if the debt did not result wholly or partly from the debtor knowingly making a false statement or omission, and if there were special circumstances (other than financial hardship alone) making waiver desirable and more appropriate than writing off the debt. The Tribunal also considered whether Centrelink's own actions or omissions contributed to the debt.

The Tribunal found that Centrelink had contributed to the debts by failing to act upon a valuation notice received in 2009 which indicated both Mr Chung and Mrs Lai were owners of the property at 10 Geoffrey Court, Narre Warren. Despite this information and subsequent notifications of rental income from the property, Centrelink's records were not rectified for many years, leading to a failure to query Mrs Lai's declaration of having no real estate interest other than her home in 2009. While acknowledging the applicants' responsibility to report changes in circumstances, the Tribunal recognised this administrative failure as a factor in the debt's accumulation.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the original decisions and remitted them to the Secretary. The Secretary was directed to waive $2,500 from Mr Chung's total debt and $2,500 from Mrs Lai's total debt, in recognition of Centrelink's administrative failure to reconcile the ownership of the property at 10 Geoffrey Court, Narre Warren over an extended period.