Claim compensation from us

Knowing when to claim compensation

You can make a claim for compensation at any time if you believe we made an error that caused you financial loss or injury.

If you believe we made an incorrect decision, including about a payment, you can ask us for a review. We may not compensate you if other options will resolve the issue.

If you apply for a formal review of a decision, you should exercise your appeal rights first, as compensation is the last option. You don’t have to wait for the review outcome before claiming compensation. We might not be able to consider your compensation claim until we have completed the formal review.

When you make a claim

You can claim compensation by completing the Compensation Application form.

Don’t use this form if you want to apply for a Centrelink payment.

If you can’t print it, you can ask staff at your local service centre to print the form.

Your claim needs to show and support a claim of legal liability or defective administration.

Legal liability

We’ll consider if we’re legally liable to compensate you. You need to show all of the following:

• we had a legal duty of care to you
• we breached that duty of care
• you suffered a loss or disadvantage because of the breach
• there’s a reasonable connection between the breach and the loss or disadvantage suffered.

Defective administration

Where there’s no legal right to compensation, we’ll consider if we can compensate you under the Scheme for Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (the CDDA Scheme). You need to show all of the following:

• our administration was defective
• you suffered a loss or detriment as a result
• we could reasonably have expected you would suffer the loss or detriment as a result.

You can’t use the CDDA Scheme for social security debts, registered child support debts or overpayments. Read about the CDDA Scheme on the Department of Finance website.

When you submit the claim

Submit your claim by post to:

We’ll confirm we received your claim by sending you an acknowledgement letter within 14 days of receiving it.

We process claims in the order we receive them. If your claim is complex, it may take longer to resolve.

There is no need to contact us to check on the progress of your claim as this won’t make the process faster.

We’ll contact you about your claim when your claim has been allocated to a case manager. The average timeframe for a decision is approximately 4 months from when we receive your claim.

We may ask you to sign a settlement deed if your claim is approved. Signing it means you can’t make any future claims against us about the same matter.

After you hear from us

If you don’t agree with a decision or how we’ve handled your claim, our decision letter will tell you how to request reconsideration of your claim.

You can also contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman. They’ll consider if the decision was reasonable in the circumstances.

Alternatives to compensation

You can lodge a complaint, compliment or suggestion.

The Department of Finance assesses claims for an act of grace payment. These payments are for people who are unintentionally disadvantaged by the effects of Australian Government legislation, actions or omissions. More information on the act of grace payments framework can be found at the Department of Finance website.