Social Security Act 1991

This section applies if:

carer supplement for 2010 or a later year is paid to a person; and

a debt (the primary debt) due to the Commonwealth by the person arises (under this Act or the Veterans’ Entitlements Act) in connection with any of the following instalments that is equal to all of the instalment or, if the instalment is of carer allowance, all or part of the instalment:

a qualifying instalment (see section 992X);

an instalment of partner service pension under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act affecting the amount of the carer supplement paid; and

the carer supplement would not have been paid, or less carer supplement would have been paid, had the circumstances that gave rise to the primary debt not occurred.

If the primary debt is equal to all of the instalment, an amount, equal to so much of the carer supplement as would not have been paid if the instalment had not been paid, is a debt due to the Commonwealth by the person.

If the instalment is the only qualifying instalment, the debt will equal the amount of the carer supplement, because none of it would have been paid if the qualifying instalment had not been paid.

If:

the primary debt arises in connection with an instalment of carer allowance because of a failure to take account, or an error in taking account, of a determination under subsection 981(1); and

the primary debt is equal to part of the instalment;

If, apart from this subsection, 2 or more debts would arise under either or both of subsections (2) and (3) in relation to the carer supplement, then, instead of those debts arising, there is a single debt that:

is due to the Commonwealth by the person; and

is equal to the lesser of:

the sum of the debts that would arise apart from this subsection; and

the amount of the carer supplement.

A debt is taken to have arisen under this section when the carer supplement was paid to the person.