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

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Willersdorf against a decision of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, which affirmed a decision by the Secretary, Department of Social Services. Ms Willersdorf had sought to claim a supplementary Family Tax Benefit (FTB) payment for the 2012/2013 financial year, but her claim was lodged out of time. The dispute centred on whether the Tribunal should exercise its discretion to allow the claim to be made out of time, specifically whether "special circumstances" existed.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the circumstances surrounding Ms Willersdorf's failure to lodge her income tax return within the prescribed time constituted "special circumstances" under section 32D(2)(b) of the Administration Act. This section governs the relevant reconciliation time for FTB payments and allows for a further period if the Secretary is satisfied that special circumstances prevented timely lodgement. The Tribunal also considered whether Centrelink had provided adequate notification of legislative changes affecting these time limits and whether the actions of Ms Willersdorf's accountant constituted special circumstances.

The Tribunal reasoned that a lack of awareness of legislative changes, without more, does not amount to special circumstances. It noted that while Ms Willersdorf had diligently provided her documentation to her accountant and regularly followed up, the late lodgement of her tax return was ultimately due to her accountant's error. The Tribunal observed that numerous previous cases had found that late lodgement by an accountant did not constitute the requisite special circumstances. However, the Tribunal distinguished this case from others where the taxpayer had provided material late or had not followed up, finding that Ms Willersdorf's proactive conduct was a distinguishing factor.

Ultimately, the Tribunal affirmed the decision of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.