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

The applicant, the Secretary of the Department of Social Services, sought a stay of a decision made by the Social Services & Child Support Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The decision under review concerned a debt raised against the respondent arising from an alleged overpayment of youth allowance under the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth). The Tribunal had set aside its previous decision and remitted the matter to the applicant for reconsideration. The respondent sought review of this decision, challenging the approach directed by the Tribunal for recalculating the debt.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether to grant the applicant's request for a stay of the Tribunal's decision pending the determination of a 'test application' from a cohort of similar matters. The applicant was concerned about the potential need to recover partial repayments already made by the respondent if the debt was ultimately found to be valid. The respondent opposed the stay, highlighting the distress caused by debt collection activities and their desire for a final resolution.

The Tribunal considered the balance of convenience in determining whether to grant the stay. It noted that the applicant had undertaken not to seek recovery of the remaining portion of the debt in the interim. While the respondent sought a prompt resolution, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant's concerns regarding the potential need to recover funds, coupled with the existence of a test case to resolve complex legal issues affecting a cohort of applicants, weighed in favour of granting the stay.

Consequently, the Tribunal granted the stay order.