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

This matter concerned an appeal by XQLW against a decision by the Secretary, Department of Social Services, regarding entitlement to Family Tax Benefit (FTB) supplement payments. The core of the dispute was whether XQLW had failed to lodge her income tax return for the 2013-2014 financial year by the statutory deadline of 30 June 2015, and if so, whether special circumstances prevented her from doing so. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine these issues.

The Tribunal was tasked with two primary legal questions: first, whether XQLW had lodged her income tax return for the relevant financial year by the statutory date; and second, if she had not, whether any special circumstances existed that prevented her from meeting that deadline. The legislation stipulated that lodging an income tax return by the statutory date was a prerequisite for receiving FTB supplements.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal found that the parties did not dispute that XQLW had not lodged her 2013-2014 income tax return by 30 June 2015, with Centrelink records indicating lodgment on 13 June 2016. Regarding the existence of special circumstances, the Tribunal referred to established legal principles, including the Federal Court's decision in *Dranichnikov v Centrelink* [2003] FCAFC 133, which held that special circumstances are those that distinguish a case from the usual or ordinary. The Tribunal also noted that such circumstances must go beyond mere financial hardship and must actively prevent the lodgment of the return within the required timeframe, as highlighted in the AAT decision of *Hooker and Secretary, Department of Social Services* [2015] AATA 732. Applying these principles, the Tribunal concluded that XQLW's circumstances did not present anything that distinguished her case from the ordinary or usual for the entire period in question, and therefore, she had not demonstrated that special circumstances prevented her from lodging her return by the statutory deadline.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted its own decision, determining that XQLW was not entitled to receive FTB supplements for the 2013-2014 financial year.