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

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Simmonds against a decision of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT) which affirmed a decision by an Authorised Review Officer (ARO) of the Department of Social Services. The ARO had affirmed an earlier decision by Centrelink that Mr Simmonds had been overpaid the age pension during a specified debt period, resulting in a debt of $6,680.68 due to the Commonwealth. Mr Simmonds sought to have this debt written off or waived.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr Simmonds had been overpaid the age pension during the debt period, whether such an overpayment constituted a debt due to the Commonwealth, and if so, whether the debt should be written off or waived. The Tribunal was required to consider the provisions of the *Social Security Act 1991* (SSA) concerning the recovery of overpayments, including the circumstances under which a debt could be waived due to administrative error or "special circumstances".

The Tribunal found that it was not in dispute that Mr Simmonds had been overpaid the age pension, and that this overpayment constituted a debt due to the Commonwealth under s 1223(1) of the SSA. The central question then became whether the debt should be waived. The ARO had previously considered waiver under s 1237A (administrative error) and s 1237AAD (special circumstances) of the SSA. While acknowledging a delay in processing information regarding Mrs Simmonds' income stream, the ARO concluded the debt was not caused solely by administrative error. Furthermore, the ARO found that Mr Simmonds' circumstances were not sufficiently unusual or uncommon to be considered "special circumstances" justifying waiver. The SSAT affirmed these findings, preferring Centrelink's evidence that Mrs Simmonds had not provided full details of her allocated pension at the time of the age pension claim.

The Tribunal affirmed the SSAT's decision. It found that Mr Simmonds' debt could not be written off under s 1236 of the SSA, nor waived under s 1237A due to administrative error, nor waived under s 1237AAD due to special circumstances. The Tribunal was not satisfied that the circumstances of the case met the threshold for waiver under either of these provisions.