How Do I Request a Review of My Debt?

The options available to you will depend on whether your debt has been reviewed already.

If your debt has not been reviewed before, the first step is to ask for an Authorised Review Officer within Centrelink to review your debt.

If your debt has already been reviewed by an Authorised Review Officer, you can seek further review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

If your debt has already been reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal you may have further appeal options available to you, depending on your individual circumstances.

‍You should seek legal advice about the appeal processes.

Seeking an AuthorisedReview Officer review and reviews of Centrelink debts by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, are free of cost.

An Authorised Review Officer is a specialised Centrelink officer who reviews decisions made by Centrelink. They have the power to change decisions if they think they are wrong, or if they think there is a better decision that can be made.

For Centrelink debts, an Authorised Review Officer might:

• Decide you don’t owe any money because you were not overpaid.
• Decide the amount you owe is more than what Centrelink originally thought, and ask you to repay more.
• Decide all or part of your debt should be written off, which means you won’t have to pay it back for a period of time.
• Decide all or part of your debt should be waived because of a Centrelink mistake, which means you won’t have to pay it back at all. This is called the administrative error waiver.
• Decide all or part of your debt should be waived because your circumstances are special, which means you won’t have to pay it back. This is called the special circumstances waiver.
• Decide not to change the decision at all.

You can request an Authorised Review Officer review verbally or in writing. If asking verbally – either on the phone or at a Centrelink office – you should say specifically that you want your debt reviewed by an ‘Authorised Review Officer’. Once lodged, you can ask for the review number.

If you would like to request a review in writing, you can use Centrelink’s SS351 form to do so. The form is available here or by searching for ‘Centrelink SS351’.

Requesting a review in writing means there is a written record of your review request. You can also attach supporting letters, documents and evidence. It also means you can seek someone check over the prepared documents before you lodge the review, in case there are errors or other issues.

There is no time limit for requesting an Authorised Review Officer review for mostCentrelink debts. Other Centrelink decisions, and debts for some payments like Abstudy, do have time limits for appeals.

‍You should get legal advice if you are unsure whether a time limit applies to you.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (’AAT’) is a tribunal that can review Commonwealth administrative decisions. This includes decisions made by Centrelink Authorised Review Officers. 

For Centrelink decisions, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has two levels.

The first level is the Social Services and Child Support Division (’SSCSD’) which reviews decisions by Centrelink Authorised Review Officers.

The second level is the General Division, which reviews decisions by the Social Services and Child Support Division.

Time limits do apply once at the tribunal, you can read more about this below.

For Centrelink debts, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has the same decision making powers as an Authorised Review Officer. It might:

• Decide you don’t owe any money because you were not overpaid.
• Decide the amount you owe is more than what the Authorised Review Officer thought, and ask you to repay more.
• Decide all or part of your debt can be written off, which means you won’t have to pay it back for a period of time.
• Decide all or part of your debt can be waived because of a Centrelink mistake, which means you won’t have to pay it back at all. This is called the administrative error waiver.
• Decide all or part of your debt can be waived because your circumstances are special, which means you won’t have to pay it back. This is called the special circumstances waiver.
• Decide not to change the decision at all.

There is no time limit for requesting review of a debt by the Social Services and Child Support Division.

Once you’ve received the Social Services and Child Support Division’s decision, you have 28 days to seek further review by the General Division.

An appeal to the Federal Court must be made within 28 days after receiving the General Division decision. The Federal Court cannot review the Tribunal’s decision further, they can only consider questions of law. You should get legal advice before appealing to the Federal Court. Costs apply at the Federal Court.

Risk of fraud investigation and prosecution

If Centrelink believes a debt was caused by fraud – that is, they think you deliberately lied in order to gain a benefit – they may investigate you. This could lead to criminal charges against you. It is possible to receive a prison sentence if you are convicted of fraud.

You should be aware that any information and evidence you give Centrelink can be used against you.

You can seek legal advice about your individual circumstances before challenging a Centrelink debt.

If you have been dishonest with Centrelink, or Centrelink might think you’ve been dishonest, we strongly recommend you seek legal advice before challenging your debt. We also recommend seeking legal advice if the amount you owe is large.

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Risk of the amount you owe increasing

Challenging a Centrelink debt involves a decision maker looking closely at your situation and the circumstances of your debt. They may discover errors in how the debt was calculated. They may recalculate the overpayment and find you owe more money than originally thought. If this happens, the decision maker will likely change the decision and ask you to repay more money.