Loch and Secretary, Department of Education and Training

This matter concerned an application for remission of a HECS-HELP debt by the applicant, who had applied to the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) for remission in relation to two units of study. UTS had refused these applications, and its decisions were affirmed on review, leading to the current proceedings before A Poljak SM. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicant met the criteria for "special circumstances" as defined by the *Higher Education Support Act 2003* (Cth) and associated Administration Guidelines.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant's circumstances satisfied the three cumulative conditions for special circumstances under section 36-21(1) of the Act: that the circumstances were beyond the applicant's control, that they did not make their full impact until on or after the census date for the unit, and that they made it impracticable for the applicant to complete the unit's requirements. These statutory requirements were to be interpreted in accordance with the *Higher Education Support Act 2003 - Administration Guidelines 2012*, particularly Chapter 3 concerning circumstances beyond a person's control, circumstances that did not make their full impact until on or after the census date, and circumstances that made it impracticable to complete unit requirements.

The court affirmed the decision of the Tribunal, finding that the applicant had not established the requisite special circumstances. The reasoning focused on the applicant's failure to demonstrate that the circumstances met all three statutory criteria. Specifically, the court considered the applicant's inability to complete the unit requirements, the timing of the impact of any circumstances relative to the census date, and whether those circumstances were beyond the applicant's control and unusual, uncommon, or abnormal, as stipulated by the Administration Guidelines. The court concluded that the applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to satisfy these conditions.