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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mrs Crabtree against a decision by the Secretary, Department of Social Services, regarding her eligibility for Family Tax Benefit for the 2013-2014 financial year. Mrs Crabtree had been paid this benefit by instalments based on an estimated combined adjustable taxable income. The Department had issued several letters to Mrs Crabtree, including one on 24 March 2015, requiring her to lodge her 2013-2014 tax return, or advise if she was not required to do so, by 30 June 2015, warning that failure to act would result in ineligibility for further Family Tax Benefit for that year. Mrs Crabtree lodged her tax return on 5 August 2015.

The legal issue before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was whether there were special circumstances that prevented Mrs Crabtree from lodging her tax return by the deadline of 30 June 2015, thereby allowing the Tribunal to exercise its discretion to extend the time for lodgement. Mrs Crabtree argued that her father's atypical and undiagnosed illness in May and June 2015, which required her to travel to Perth on multiple occasions, constituted special circumstances.

The Tribunal Member found that while the discretion to extend time exists where special circumstances prevented lodgement, Mrs Crabtree's situation did not meet this threshold. The Member reasoned that caring for an elderly parent with an undiagnosed condition is not inherently uncommon, and therefore not necessarily a "special" circumstance. Furthermore, even if it were considered special, the circumstances did not "prevent" Mrs Crabtree from lodging her return, particularly as her father's condition was not diagnosed until after her return was lodged. Consequently, the decision under review was affirmed.