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

The matter before the Tribunal concerned a claim for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for the 2013/2014 financial year by Mrs Weiss. The dispute arose because Mrs Weiss lodged her claim on 3 August 2016, which was more than two years after the end of the relevant financial year. The Secretary of the Department of Social Services had refused to allow an extension of time for the claim, and this decision was under review.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether special circumstances existed that would permit the Secretary to allow a further period for Mrs Weiss to make her FTB claim beyond the statutory time limits. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider the provisions of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999, which stipulated that a claim for FTB for a past period must be made within one year after the end of the relevant income year, or within such further period as the Secretary allows if satisfied that special circumstances prevented the claimant from making the claim earlier.

The Tribunal accepted that Mrs Weiss was unaware of the change in the legislative time limit from two years to one year, as she had not received a letter from the Department advising her of this change due to an incorrect postal address on her record. While Mrs Weiss experienced difficulties in lodging her claim online and was distracted by bushfire events affecting her property in November 2015, the Tribunal found that these events did not constitute "special circumstances" as contemplated by the Act to justify an extension. The Tribunal noted that Mrs Weiss had been aware of the need to lodge a claim and had made attempts to do so, but her failure to follow up on receiving a claim form, despite being aware of the time constraints, meant that the threshold for special circumstances was not met.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, holding that Mrs Weiss had not made an effective claim for FTB for the 2013/2014 financial year due to the claim being lodged outside the permissible timeframes and the absence of established special circumstances.