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Duplicate payments of family assistance payments 107-04080010

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This document outlines debts raised because of duplicate payments. When a customer receives a payment twice for the same period this is a duplicate payment. The duplicate payment becomes a debt to the Commonwealth.

Occurrence of duplicate payments

Debts for duplicate payments happen when a:

  • system error pays a customer twice for the same period
  • customer applies for a replacement payment, as they have not received the original payment. They then receive the first payment
  • reassessment has taken place on a previous activity (which generated a debt). The reassessment activity results in duplicate arrears for the same period. The activity is finalised without adjustment to the arrears

An arrears payment, which is an amount due to the customer, is not a duplicate payment.

Duplicate payments when a debt has already been identified

A reassessment activity may create duplicate arrears for a period where a debt exists. The system may issue the arrears instead of adjusting the arrears to offset the debt. This creates a duplicate payment.

See Payment of arrears after reassessment for what to do when the customer already has a determined or undetermined debt.

Categories of debt raised under subsection 1223(1)

Payment of arrears after reassessment

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