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

This matter concerned an application by the Applicant for review of decisions made by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services. The Applicant sought to challenge the cancellation of his Family Tax Benefit, an alleged overpayment of Family Tax Benefit, and an alleged overpayment of the Schoolkids Bonus. The Applicant did not press the issues relating to the cancellation of his Family Tax Benefit or the overpayment of the Schoolkids Bonus, and the decisions in respect of these matters were affirmed.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Applicant had been overpaid Family Tax Benefit entitlements and, if so, whether the debt arising from this overpayment should be written off or waived. Specifically, the Tribunal considered whether the debt was solely attributable to an administrative error by the Commonwealth and whether there were special circumstances warranting waiver, particularly given the Applicant's significant health issues and the fact that the Family Tax Benefit child was receiving a carer payment during the relevant period.

The Tribunal found that while the Applicant was entitled to Family Tax Benefit at the time of payment, his entitlement ceased once the child became eligible for a carer payment. The Applicant contended that he had not been informed of this impact on his Family Tax Benefit entitlement during his dealings with Centrelink regarding the carer payment. The Tribunal considered section 97 of the *Administration Act*, which mandates the waiver of a debt attributable solely to an administrative error if the debtor received the payment in good faith and would suffer severe financial hardship if the debt were not waived. The Tribunal was persuaded that the Applicant's circumstances were "special" for the purposes of waiver, noting his significant health issues and high medication dosage.

Ultimately, the Tribunal decided to affirm the decision to cancel the Applicant's Family Tax Benefit and the decision to raise an overpayment of the Schoolkids Bonus. However, the decision to raise the Family Tax Benefit overpayment was set aside. In substitution, the Tribunal ordered that the Applicant's debt of $27,750.76 for the Family Tax Benefit overpayment be waived, with the exception of $1,933.60 which had already been paid by the Applicant.