Some people who declared employment income lump sums of greater than 52 weeks, had their income lump sum period incorrectly capped at 52 weeks.
This occurred between 7 December 2020 to 6 September 2024.
These lump sums should have been assessed over a period equal to the time they represented, so the right amount of time and income in the income test assessment was applied.
What we’ve done to fix the error
On 7 September 2024, we made a change to our system to remove the 52-week cap. Lump sums reported after this date are now assessed correctly. If you reported your lump sum after this date, you won’t be affected by this error.
Who is affected
We’re reviewing customer records to check if their rate of payment has been affected. This is a manual process which will take time.
You may have been impacted if you reported an employment income lump sum that was both:
- for a period of more than 52 weeks (364 days), for example back pay for 3 years
- paid to you or your partner between 7 December 2020 and 7 September 2024.
We won’t know which customers are impacted until we review their records.
Possible impacts could mean:
- you were paid too much for some of the time
- you were not paid enough for some of the time
- there was no change to your payment
- ongoing changes to your payment rates once the assessment is finalised.
You won’t be asked to repay the excess amount if you’ve been paid too much because of this error. We’ll pay you arrears if we haven’t paid you enough.
What you need to do
You don’t need to do anything at this stage.
Once we’ve completed a review of your record, we’ll be in touch to let you know the outcome. If we need any additional information, we will contact you.
How we’ll contact you
If we need more information, our services officers will start contact with you by sending an SMS telling you when they will call you.
If you don’t answer our first call, we will try to contact you 2 more times. If you don’t answer our calls, we will write to you for more information.
If your contact details have changed, you need to tell us straight away.
If you disagree with the outcome
We may be able to assist with other formal reviews if you disagree with the outcome.
You may be able to claim compensation from the Department of Social Services (DSS) if you believe the error has caused you additional financial loss or injury.
You can do this under the Scheme for Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA Scheme)
If you aren’t happy with your CDDA Scheme outcome you can contact DSS.
If you still disagree with the decision, you can contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman.