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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Dauti against a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services to raise a debt against him. The central dispute revolved around whether Mr Dauti's one-third share in a property at 11 Cox Street should be considered his asset for the purposes of calculating his social security entitlements, or if it was held on a constructive trust for his brother, Sevdi. A secondary issue was whether, if the share was deemed Mr Dauti's asset, the debt should be written off or waived.

The Tribunal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether Mr Dauti's one-third share of the property at 11 Cox Street was an asset of his, or if it was held on a constructive trust for Sevdi. Secondly, if the property share was deemed to be Mr Dauti's asset, whether the criteria for writing off or waiving the debt under sections 1237A or 1237AAD of the relevant Act were met, thereby enlivening the Tribunal's discretion to do so.

The Tribunal found that the debt against Mr Dauti was correctly raised, considering the value of his assets, which included his one-third share of 11 Cox Street. It concluded that no constructive trust existed in favour of Sevdi regarding this share. Consequently, Mr Dauti had exceeded his allowable assets value limit during the relevant period, making the cancellation of his Newstart allowance and the raising of the debt appropriate. The Tribunal also determined that the debt should not be written off or waived, as the conditions for exercising that discretion under the Act were not satisfied.