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

This matter concerned an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal regarding alleged overpayments of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Parenting Payment (PP). The applicant sought to have these debts waived. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicant had "obtained the benefit" of the payments and whether "special circumstances" warranted waiving the debts.

The Tribunal was required to determine several legal issues. Firstly, whether the applicant had been overpaid FTB and PP for specific periods. Secondly, whether any such overpayments constituted debts owed to the Commonwealth. This involved interpreting the meaning of "obtained the benefit" of a payment under the *Social Security Act 1991* (Cth). Finally, the Tribunal had to consider whether the debts should be recovered, particularly in light of potential "special circumstances" such as administrative error.

The Tribunal found that the applicant was not entitled to receive FTB payments from 1 July 2015 and PP from 16 June 2015, as her children were in her former husband's 100% care, making him the principal carer. However, regarding the PP debt, the Tribunal applied the principle from *Segran and Secretary, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations* [2008] AATA 799, which held that "obtaining the benefit" requires a person to be advantaged or in an improved state. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not obtained the benefit of the PP payments because her husband controlled the joint bank account and limited her access to funds, meaning she was not "better off" as a result of the payments. Consequently, no PP debt was owed to the Commonwealth. For the FTB debt, the Tribunal found that the circumstances, including the administrative error leading to the overpayment, constituted "special circumstances" that made it unfair, harsh, and inappropriate to seek recoupment.

The Tribunal set aside the decisions under review. The applicant was found not to be liable to repay any PP debt. Furthermore, her FTB debt was waived due to special circumstances.