Aged Care Act 2024

Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the System Governor may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, decide to write off a recoverable amount or class of recoverable amounts, for a stated period or otherwise.

The System Governor may decide to write off a recoverable amount under subsection (1) if, and only if:

the recoverable amount is irrecoverable at law under subsection (4); or

a debtor in relation to the recoverable amount has no capacity to repay the recoverable amount; or

the whereabouts of a debtor in relation to the recoverable amount are unknown after all reasonable efforts have been made to locate the debtor; or

it is not cost effective for the Commonwealth to take action to recover the recoverable amount.

The System Governor may decide to write off a class of recoverable amounts under subsection (1) if, and only if, a paragraph of subsection (2) applies to each recoverable amount in the class.

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), a recoverable amount is irrecoverable at law if, and only if:

both:

the recoverable amount cannot be recovered by means of legal proceedings because the relevant 6 year period mentioned in section 516 has elapsed; and

the recoverable amount cannot be recovered by means of deductions under section 519; or

there is no proof of the recoverable amount capable of sustaining legal proceedings for its recovery; or

all of the following apply:

a debtor in relation to the recoverable amount is discharged from bankruptcy;

the recoverable amount was incurred before the debtor became bankrupt;

the recoverable amount was not incurred by fraud; or

a debtor in relation to the recoverable amount has died, leaving:

no estate; or

insufficient funds in the debtor’s estate to repay the recoverable amount.

A decision made under subsection (1) takes effect:

if no day is specified in the decision—on the day the decision is made; or

if a day is specified in the decision—on the day so specified (whether that day is before, on or after the day the decision is made).

Nothing in this section prevents anything being done at any time to recover a recoverable amount that has been written off under this section.