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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mrs Mills against a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding the calculation of her compensation preclusion period. Mrs Mills had received a lump sum settlement of $920,000 from a public liability claim following an accident in 2013. Centrelink, acting for the Department, advised Mrs Mills that this lump sum payment resulted in a preclusion period from 15 February 2015 until 30 May 2023, and that she was required to repay $35,902.16 for benefits already received. Mrs Mills sought to have the preclusion period reduced or disregarded due to alleged special circumstances.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Secretary had the discretion, under section 1184K of the relevant legislation, to treat the whole or part of Mrs Mills’ compensation payment as not having been made, due to special circumstances. This required the Tribunal to assess whether Mrs Mills' circumstances were sufficiently unusual, uncommon, exceptional, or out of the ordinary to warrant the exercise of this discretion.

The Tribunal considered evidence regarding Mrs Mills' financial circumstances, including the breakdown of her settlement funds, her claims of significant financial hardship, mental and physical health issues, and the alleged mismanagement of her funds by lawyers and family members. However, the Tribunal found that Mrs Mills’ situation, despite its difficulties, did not meet the threshold for "special circumstances" as contemplated by the legislation. The Tribunal concluded that her circumstances were not markedly different from the usual run of cases where compensation payments impact social security entitlements.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the previous decision and determined that Mrs Mills was not entitled to have her compensation treated as not having been received, and therefore her compensation preclusion period was to stand.