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

This matter concerned an application by Mrs Large for a second review by the Tribunal of decisions made by an authorised review officer, which affirmed earlier decisions by the Tribunal at first review. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had been overpaid Family Tax Benefit and whether these overpayments constituted debts to the Commonwealth, and if so, to what extent they should be written off or waived. The respondent conceded that administrative errors and poor administration had occurred, which amounted to special circumstances.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had incurred debts to the Commonwealth due to overpayment of Family Tax Benefit, and if so, whether these debts should be waived or written off, either wholly or in part, pursuant to sections 95 and 97 of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance)(Administration) Act 1999. This involved determining the extent to which the applicant contributed to the overpayments and whether the circumstances warranted a waiver based on administrative error and special circumstances, including the applicant's health.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had incurred Family Tax Benefit debts for the financial years 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021. It noted the respondent's concession of administrative error and poor administration, which the Tribunal accepted as contributing to the debts. The Tribunal applied section 97 of the Act, waiving the entirety of the debts for specific periods attributed solely to administrative error, provided the applicant received the payments in good faith. For the remaining debts, the Tribunal applied section 97 by waiving 40% on the basis of special circumstances, acknowledging the applicant's health issues and the prolonged stress caused by the agency's handling of the matter.

The Tribunal set aside the previous decisions and substituted a new decision. It ordered that the debt for the period 1 December 2017 to 25 February 2018 be wholly waived due to sole administrative error. Forty per cent of the remaining debt for 2017-2018 was waived on the basis of special circumstances. Similarly, the debt for the period 1 August 2018 to 4 September 2018 was wholly waived for sole administrative error, with 40% of the remaining debt for 2018-2019 waived due to special circumstances. For the financial years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, 40% of the debts were waived on the basis of special circumstances. Additionally, interest charges were determined not to be payable, and the respondent was directed to recalculate the debts and advise the applicant of repayment options.