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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Redman against a decision of the Secretary of the Department of Social Services affirming a debt due to the Commonwealth arising from undeclared earnings while receiving a Newstart Allowance. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether the recovery of this debt should be written off or waived, and whether "special circumstances" existed that would warrant such action.

The Tribunal considered whether the debt was attributable solely to an error made by Centrelink and whether Mr Redman had acted in good faith. The legal issues revolved around the interpretation and application of provisions within the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) and the Social Security Administration Act 1999 (Cth) concerning the recovery of overpayments and the circumstances under which such debts could be waived or written off.

The Tribunal found that Mr Redman had not fulfilled the requirements for a waiver or write-off of the debt because he had knowingly made false representations regarding his earnings and had not received the payments in good faith. Despite noting that Centrelink had not adequately explained its decision to review only certain debts and that Mr Redman had raised issues of genuine concern, the Tribunal concluded that the debts under review were correctly attributed to him. The Tribunal therefore affirmed the original decision regarding the attribution of the debts. However, the Tribunal remitted the specific debts that had been reviewed to the Respondent for recalculation in accordance with the correct application of section 1068-G7A of the Social Security Act 1991.