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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) reviewed a decision by the Department of Human Services to raise and recover debts totalling $22,353.14 from Mr Jason Woods. These debts comprised $2,103.57 in newstart allowance and $20,249.57 in carer payment, both calculated on the basis that Mr Woods was a single person. The period in question spanned from 12 July 2011 to 9 July 2015, during which Mr Woods had married Ms Maria Sarah Woods in the Philippines on 17 May 2011, though she did not arrive in Australia to live with him until 18 January 2014.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr Woods was a "member of a couple" for social security purposes during the relevant periods, and if so, whether there were special reasons to exercise discretion to waive the debts. The Tribunal was required to determine if the relationship between Mr Woods and Ms Woods constituted a de facto relationship or a marriage that would necessitate treating them as a couple for the purposes of calculating his social security payments.

The Tribunal reasoned that while Mr Woods and Ms Woods were married, their circumstances did not meet the criteria for them to be considered a "member of a couple" under social security law for the period in question. The Tribunal noted that Ms Woods was subject to a Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) and had to care for her family, which impacted their ability to pool resources. Crucially, the Tribunal found that there was no requirement to consider the issue of waiver, as the primary determination was that they were not members of a couple.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted it with a decision that Mr Woods and Ms Woods were not members of a couple for social security purposes until 9 July 2015. As a result, Mr Woods was found not to have social security debts to the Commonwealth for that period.