McKinstry and Secretary, Department of Education, Skills and Employment

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Australian Catholic University (ACU) to refuse the remission of the applicant’s HECS-HELP debt for a unit of study. The applicant had failed to complete the unit, and her subsequent applications for debt remission were rejected by ACU. The applicant sought a review of ACU's final decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether "special circumstances" applied to the applicant, as required by section 36-20(1)(d) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth). This required the Tribunal to consider whether the circumstances were beyond the applicant's control, whether they did not make their full impact until on or after the census date, and whether they made it impracticable for her to complete the unit's requirements.

The Tribunal considered evidence of the applicant's long-standing depressive illness, which had exacerbated around the census date due to significant financial stress. However, the Tribunal found that the financial stress was largely self-imposed, stemming from a conscious decision to forgo wages to support a friend's business. While the exacerbation of her depressive illness was acknowledged, the Tribunal concluded that the circumstances were not entirely beyond the applicant's control, nor did they make it impracticable to complete the unit, as she had enrolled despite knowing of her fluctuating condition and financial pressures.

Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the criteria for "special circumstances" under section 36-21(1) of the Act were met. The decision of ACU to refuse the remission of the HECS-HELP debt was affirmed.