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

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicants against the rejection of their claims for Newstart Allowance. The dispute centred on whether certain directors' loans constituted assets attributable to the applicants for the purposes of the assets value limit under the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth). The decision was made by Senior Member R Cameron of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the value of the applicants' assets during the qualification period for Newstart Allowance, specifically from 29 August 2018 to 28 November 2018. This involved ascertaining whether outstanding directors' loans to companies of which the applicants had previously been directors should be treated as assets of the applicants, thereby potentially exceeding the applicable assets value limit of $594,500 for a non-home owning couple.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicants' entitlement to Newstart Allowance was contingent on their combined assets not exceeding the prescribed limit during the qualification period. While acknowledging the applicants' circumstances with considerable sympathy, the Tribunal was bound to apply the law as it stood. The decision implicitly found that the directors' loans, as they stood during the qualification period, were not discharged or released in a manner that would exclude them from the applicants' assessable assets. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicants' assets likely exceeded the limit, precluding them from receiving the allowance.

The Tribunal affirmed the decisions under review, which had rejected the applicants' claims for Newstart Allowance. However, the Tribunal noted that if the directors' loans were subsequently released or discharged, the applicants would be free to make a new application for any benefits they might be entitled to.