Kesteven and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social security)

The Administrative Review Tribunal reviewed a decision by Services Australia to recover student start-up loan debts from Mr Kesteven. The loans were paid to him while he was a full-time student receiving austudy payments. However, the austudy payments were cancelled from 25 May 2023 because his partner's income precluded him from qualifying for austudy and thereby the student start-up loans. The Tribunal was required to decide if Mr Kesteven owed the debt to the Commonwealth and if there were any grounds for waiving or writing off the debt.

The Tribunal found that Mr Kesteven did owe the debt as he was not qualified for austudy from 25 May 2023. However, the Tribunal also considered if the debt could be waived or written off. The Tribunal found that the debt could not be waived as it was not solely due to administrative error. While Mr Kesteven did not intend to dispute his failure to notify Centrelink of his marriage, his failure to notify Centrelink of his marital status and income changes preceded any potential administrative errors by Centrelink. Therefore, the debt could not be waived under section 1237A of the Act. The Tribunal also found that the circumstances were not "special" enough to warrant a waiver under section 1237AAD of the Act. Lastly, the Tribunal found that the debt could not be written off as Mr Kesteven had the capacity to repay the debt through funds from his wife. The Tribunal therefore affirmed the decision under review.

No further orders were made.