Special circumstances debt waivers 107-05120030

Making a decision to waive or not waive a debt can happen before or after

• determining the debt, or
• debt recovery commences

A waiver must always be considered before raising a debt.

Waiver may also be considered or reconsidered after a debt is raised.

Has the debt been determined?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 2

Investigate and calculate the debt.

Check if the:

• customer has requested a debt waiver for special circumstances
• factors of the case indicate waiver for special circumstances is appropriate

Have any of these occurred?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 3

Review the case to determine if there are factors indicating another waiver reason may be more appropriate.

Are there factors indicating another reason should be considered for the waiver?

• Yes, see Waiving Centrelink debts. Procedure ends here
• No, commence normal recovery. See Actioning an undetermined debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS). Procedure ends here

Note: it may be appropriate to write off all or part of the debt when special circumstances are temporary. See Temporary write off of Centrelink debts.

A customer may contact asking for a special circumstances waiver decision to be made for a determined debt.

Check the OPDL screen to determine which debt(s) the customer is seeking a special circumstances waiver for.

Check APL system/Document list to determine if any debts the customer is currently seeking special circumstances waiver for have previously undergone a formal review by Services Australia or an external review at the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).

Has the debt the customer is seeking the special circumstances waiver already exhausted the external review process (Administrative Review Tribunal)?

• Yes, there are no further review options available. Decisions made by the ART are binding on the customer and Services Australia.
• No, a new waiver decision may be considered, go to Step 5

Note: if the customer specifically requests an explanation of the decision or a formal review, see First contact about a decision and the internal review process.

Customers can feel overwhelmed trying to manage multiple debts. Customers affected by FDV or other vulnerable circumstances may need greater support. See Identifying customer vulnerability and risk issues.

Staff should:

• conduct compassionate interactions
• apply the Family and Domestic Violence Support Model if the customer is/was affected by FDV
• help customers explore their options related to the debt(s)
• approach the customer’s circumstances related to the debt with sensitivity
• consider if external or internal referrals for support are needed
• check if an FTB debt is due to a retrospective change in maintenance income. If so, a customer may be eligible for an exemption to the Maintenance Action Test (MAT), see Exemptions from seeking child support for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers

A social worker case consultation or debt waiver referral may be needed in some cases.

A social worker case consultation or debt waiver referral may be needed in some cases. This includes cases where staff:

• need to consult a social worker about some or all factors of the case to help them determine if the customer's circumstances constitute a special circumstance, or
• determine direct referral of the customer to a social worker is needed because they are experiencing FDV or complex vulnerability and do not have adequate support, or
• determine a direct referral to a social worker is needed because the customer’s circumstances are of such a sensitive nature that continued consideration by staff would cause the customer significant distress and further assessment should be undertaken by a social worker

Note: the staff member applying the waiver is responsible for the decision and remains the decision maker.

Is a social worker case consultation or debt waiver referral needed?

• Yes. Refer the customer to a social worker, see Social workers' role in debt, payment assurance and compensation and take no further action until the consult occurs or recommendation is received
• No, go to Step 7

A debt may be waived if all the following apply:

• there are factors that distinguish the case as having 'special circumstances'
• it is more appropriate to waive the debt than to write it off, and
• one of the following applies to the debt:
• the debt did not result wholly or partly from the customer or another person knowingly providing false information, misrepresenting facts or failing to adhere to the law
• the debt resulted wholly or partly from such an act or omission by the customer, but that act, or omission was justified in the circumstances
• the debt resulted wholly or partly from such an act or omission by another person but the customer did not know about that act or omission, or
• the debt resulted wholly or partly from such an act or omission by another person but the customer was justified in the circumstances for not correcting that act or omission

See the Resources page for examples.

When determining whether a person was ‘justified in the circumstances’, staff will be required to consider the person’s circumstances in their entirety.

To determine if the customer is eligible for waiver, staff should review the customers circumstances by:

• completing a review of the customer’s record
• contacting the customer to discuss their details (if required)
• obtaining details of the special circumstances and supporting information (if applicable) from the customer or from information already recorded on their customer’s record

Go to Step 8.

There is no set criteria or list of supporting information when determining whether special circumstances exist.

Staff should consider a customer’s circumstances at the time of the debt was accrued and, in the period following.

Special circumstances are deemed to be circumstances that are unusual, uncommon or out of the ordinary.

The special circumstances waiver requires consideration of a person’s circumstances in their entirety. Each case must be considered on its own merits. Circumstances may include:

• family and domestic violence
• financial abuse and coercion
• mental health
• decision-making capacity
• the impact of natural disasters
• homelessness, or
• serious dependence on drugs and alcohol

See Family and domestic violence and Identifying customer vulnerability and risk issues.

Go to Step 9.

Review the customer’s record, including:

• Document tools and Document List, including records that relate to the special circumstances
• Debt screens
• Medical Conditions screens
• Marital status screen and Address summary screen
• records of previous Social Work contact
• records of previous Appeal/ARO contact
• any other relevant information held on the customer’s record that may support the application of the waiver provision. See Identifying customer vulnerability and risk issues for screens to check

Go to Step 10.

Staff should make decisions on whether to apply the special circumstances waiver based on the evidence available and the circumstances of the individual case.

Staff should consider:

• the customer’s account of events
• information held on the customers record such as Doc’s, marital status, income and asset, vulnerability indicators, health conditions or specialist involvement
• readily available evidence provided by the customer. For example, bank statements, insurance claims, police and court documents, third-party information from support services (counsellors, doctors, or accommodation providers)

The customer may be able to provide supporting information that is relevant to the debt period, however there is no requirement for the customer to do so. A debt can be waived without supporting information where the staff member is satisfied the customer has experienced a special circumstance.

When actioning an undetermined debt where the customer is not yet aware of the waiver consideration, staff should consider:

• if contact with the customer may cause them any further undue stress
• that it may be difficult for customers to access and provide documents

Staff must consider if customer contact is necessary when there is sufficient information from other sources to support waiver.

Go to Step 11.

Staff with the appropriate delegation can waive a debt.

See the References page for a link to Centrelink Services, Delegations and Authorisations.

Does the staff member have the delegation to waive the debt?

• Yes, go to Table 2 > Step 1
• No, go to Step 12

Is the relevant debt a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) reconciliation or non-lodgement debt?

• Yes, go to Step 13
• No, all other debts, go to Step 14

A customer’s eligibility to an exemption to the FTB Maintenance Action Test (MAT) should be checked before assessment for a special circumstances waiver if the FTB debt is due to a retrospective change in maintenance income. See Exemptions from seeking child support for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers.

Create a detailed submission using these Fast Notes on the customer's record, for:

• CCS, use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Reconciliation > Complex CCS reco escalation
• FTB, use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Debts > Enquiry > FAO Reco Spec and Unusual Circs waiver

Include relevant details for staff to consider, such as:

• customer details and contact
• background information into the creation of the debt, outlining the cause and reason for the debt
• debt calculations
• whether the debt arose from the customer or someone else where one of the following applies:
• not knowingly providing false information, misrepresenting facts or failing to adhere to the law
• knowingly providing a false statement, representation or omission, but that act, or omission was justified in the circumstances
• such an act or omission by another person but the customer did not know about that act or omission, or
• such an act or omission by another person but the customer was justified in the circumstances for not correcting that act or omission
• the factors that distinguish the case as having 'special circumstances'
• why it is more appropriate to waive the debt rather than to write it off
• a recommendation as to why it is inequitable to recover this amount now and, in the future, and why a debt waiver under special circumstances is required

See minimum DOC standards for debt waivers and the Resources page for example DOC text.

For debt waivers requiring action due to delegation limit, see the References page for a link to Centrelink Services, Delegations and Authorisations.

For debt amounts where the waiver amount does not exceed $5,000:

• APS5 or APS6, use the Direct Referral to SSO webform, for:
• CCS, select Benefit type MIV-CCS, and
• FTB, select Benefit type FTB
• Escalation type, select Debt Waiver for FTB/CCS only

For debt amounts where the waiver amount exceeds $5,000:

• EL1 or above, refer to local leadership for action

Go to Step 14 if there are other debts on the record which need to be referred to a different business area. If all relevant debts have been referred, procedure ends here.

Use Fast Note to refer the case to the relevant Debt Team. See the Resources page in Debt ownership for referral details. Include relevant details for staff to consider, such as:

• customer details and contact
• background information into the creation of the debt, outlining the cause and reason for the debt
• debt calculations
• whether the debt arose from the customer or someone else where one of the following applies:
• not knowingly providing false information, misrepresenting facts or failing to adhere to the law
• knowingly providing a false statement, representation or omission, but that act, or omission was justified in the circumstances
• such an act or omission by another person but the customer did not know about that act or omission, or
• such an act or omission by another person but the customer was justified in the circumstances for not correcting that act or omission
• the factors that distinguish the case as having 'special circumstances'
• why it is more appropriate to waive the debt rather than to write it off
• a recommendation as to why it is inequitable to recover this amount now and, in the future, and why a debt waiver under special circumstances is required

See minimum DOC standards for debt waivers and Online Document Recording (ODR).

Refer all other debts which meet the criteria for debt waiver to the relevant business area.

Procedure ends here.

Check the status of the debt on the Overpayment Debt List (OPDL) screen.

Is the debt finalised fully recovered (FRC)?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

For Debt Management and Information System (DMIS) to allow the waiver, the debt status must show as DET (determined). This is done by adjusting the repayment history.

Over-recovered debts

Do not tell the customer if a refund will be paid. Debt and Compensation Recovery Branch will decide this. They may refund or transfer the amount to other outstanding debts.

Non-Debt Staff:

• use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Debt Recovery > Debt Recovery referrals > OPRH Adj Req for Debt Waiver
• select Confirm
• record relevant information as required

The Fast Note will create a DOC and automatically refer to Debt staff, requesting the repayment history be adjusted to allow the debt waiver to be applied.

Debt Staff:

• select the debt to waive from the OPDL screen. See Adjusting and adding debt repayments
• go to the Repayment History (OPRH) screen. Adjust the last payment by $0.01 cent. Note: reverse this before finalising the debt
• where required, use Fast Note to refer the case to the relevant Debt Team to code the debt waiver. See the Resources page in Debt ownership for referral details

Over-recovered debts

Do not tell the customer if a refund is payable. Debt staff will decide this. They may refund or transfer the amount to other outstanding debts.

The appropriately delegated staff member being the decision maker, codes the waiver.

See Centrelink Services, Delegations and Authorisations.

Check the debt status on the Debt List (OPDL) screen.

For undetermined debts, the Debt Action script in Customer Record will ask why the debt needs waiving:

• select the relevant waiver reason. Note: when using the Debt Action script to code the waiver the script will ask if the debt arose from the customer ‘knowingly’ contributing to the debt. If it has been determined that the customer is eligible for waiver under the new provisions staff must answer ‘No’ to allow the script to progress
• follow the screen flow to finalise the activity
• update the DOC with the correct information

See Using Debt Scripts in Customer Record.

For determined debts, if the debt status is DET (determined, pending recovery), complete the following before coding the debt waiver:

• select the debt from the OPDL screen
• go to the Write off (OPWO) screen
• key 'Y' in the restart recovery box

Service Officers with the appropriate delegation are to code the waiver by:

• 'S'elect the Debt ID that is to be waived from the Debt List (OPDL) screen and press [Enter]
• go to the Add Waiver (OPWAA) screen and complete these fields:
• Amount Waived $, key the amount to be waived
• Reason Waived, use field help ('?') to locate the correct code
• Comments, key a brief explanation of why the debt is being waived
• press [Enter]

See the References page for a link to Centrelink Services, Delegations and Authorisations.

Where a recovery fee has been applied, see Effect of waiving a debt on the recovery fee.

Finalise activity on the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen.

Where the customer has asked for or is aware of the consideration of the application of special circumstances waiver, the customer will need to be advised of the delegate’s decision to:

• apply the special circumstances waiver to the customer’s debt, or
• not apply the special circumstances waiver to the customer’s debt as the special circumstances waiver criteria were not met

Make reasonable effort to contact the customer and genuine attempts to contact by phone.

Speaking with the customer

Advise the customer of the special circumstances waiver decision. Explain:

• the decision, including the reasons for it
• the impact the decision will have on the customer’s debt, and
• their review and appeal rights

Send a Q053 letter, including when contact has been unsuccessful.

Not speaking with the customer

There may be some circumstances where the customer was not aware of the consideration for special circumstances waiver, including:

• when actioning an undetermined debt, where the information may have been obtained from a review of the customer record, and
• contact with the customer may cause undue stress

Making contact and sending a letter may not be required in these circumstances.

Note: if the decision is not to apply a waiver due to insufficient evidence the customer should be contacted to be given the opportunity to provide this if they have not already.

Where Special circumstances waiver - Criteria met, create a detailed document using the relevant Fast Note on the customer's record. For:

• Family and Domestic Violence special circumstances waivers:
• use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Debts > Spec Circs Waiver > Special Circ Waiver Applied Family DV
• Mental Health special circumstances waivers:
• use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Debts > Spec Circs Waiver > Special Circ Waiver Applied Mental HLTH
• Other Circumstances special circumstances waiver:
• use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Debts > Spec Circs Waiver > Special Circ Waiver Applied Other

For Special circumstances waiver criteria not met, create a detailed document using the relevant Fast Note on the customer's record

• use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Debts > Spec Circs Waiver > Special Circ Waiver Criteria Not Met

Staff must use the appropriate Fast Note to document their decision.

Ensure the information being recorded on the customer’s record is in line with Online Document recording standards and Minimum DOC standards for debt waivers.