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Australian Appeals Tribunal and Recovery of Social Security Overpayments in 1985
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Section 140 of the Social Security Act of 1947 (the Act) provided for the recovery of overpayments until October 1985. Section 140 (1) permitted recovery of an overpayment in a court when the overpayment was a consequence of “a false statement or representation or in a consequence of a failure or omission to comply with any provision of the Act” It provided that the amount paid by way of pension, allowance or benefit would not have been paid; “but for the false statement or representation, failure or omission”. Section 140(2) was broader and allowed for recovery “where for any reason an amount had been paid by way of benefit, pension… which should not have…” however, recovery under this section was only by was of deductions in continuing benefits. Therefore, this provision was unavailable when the person was no longer receiving benefits. If a client of the Department of Social Security (D.S.S) disagreed with the department’s decision to recover an overpayment then they could seek review through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (A.A.T). However, there is a process of review that is usually undertaken before the case reaches the A.A.T. Process of Review Initially it is advised that the client see a review officer which was the easiest way for errors or misunderstandings to be corrected but there was no obligation to do this. The client can then officially apply for a review of the original decision if they were not happy with the review officer’s decision. The Department was then given an opportunity to reconsider the case, if the decision of the Department was not in favour of the applicant the appeal proceeded to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (S.S.A.T). According to s15A(1)of the Act the appeal must go to the S.S.A.T before it reaches the A.A.T unless the Director-General certifies that the matter involves an important principle of general application. The A.A.T The A.A.T is a general administrative tribunal that reviews administrative decisions based upon the merits. It was established by the Administrative Appeals Act 1975. It is an independent body that makes recommendations after reviewing the facts of each individual case. The A.A.T not only reviews decisions of the D.S.S but also other Commonwealth Departments. Unlike the S.S.A.T, the A.A.T does not have any members that are officers of the D.S.S.
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