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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Dawin and Uitjeng Young (the Applicants) and the Secretary, Department of Social Services. The dispute concerned the correctness of the decision to cancel the Applicants' Age Pension and raise a debt, and whether this debt should be waived. The Applicants accepted that their pensions were correctly cancelled and a debt arose, but sought to have the debt written off or waived.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the decision to cancel the Applicants' Age Pension and raise a debt was correct, and if so, whether the debt could be written off or waived under section 1237AAD of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) due to special circumstances. The Applicants had been granted Age Pension while residing in their own home. However, after moving out of this home, it became an assessable asset. As they did not immediately notify Services Australia of this change, they continued to receive pension payments, leading to an overpayment and the subsequent debt.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review. It found that the Applicants ceased to be homeowners when they vacated their principal residence on 18 February 2017. Consequently, the value of that residence became an assessable asset for the purposes of the assets test. At that time, the Applicants' combined assets, including the value of the residence and other investments, exceeded the asset limit for receiving any Age Pension payments. While the Applicants had been generous to their children and were receiving support in return, the Tribunal was not satisfied that these circumstances were sufficiently uncommon or exceptional to warrant waiving the debt to the Commonwealth.