Financial Management Regulations 1995

The Territory and an Agency must recover any overpayment made by the Territory or the Agency to the following:

an employee;

a person who holds office under an Act and is remunerated by the Territory or the Agency;

a person who met the criteria of paragraph (a) or (b) when the overpayment was made;

a superannuation fund for the benefit of a person specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c);

a third party for the benefit of, or on behalf of, a person specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) in accordance with a direction from or agreement with the person.

The following amounts paid by the Territory or an Agency are taken to be overpayments:

a salary, allowance or reimbursement payment to which a person is not entitled;

a benefit for which a person is not eligible;

a contribution to a superannuation fund in excess of the amount to which a person is entitled;

a payment to a third party that a person is not entitled to have paid;

any other amount paid in error that benefits a person.

The amount of the overpayment made by the Territory or an Agency is a debt due and payable by the person specified in subregulation (1)(a), (b) or (c) to the Territory or the Agency and may be recovered from the person by the Territory or Agency:

in accordance with subregulations (3) to (7); or

otherwise in a court of competent jurisdiction.

If an overpayment is not repaid as soon as practicable, the overpayment may be recovered from the person specified in subregulation (1)(a), (b) or (c) by deducting or withholding any amount or entitlement due to the person from the Territory or Agency.

A deduction from a person's gross salary under subregulation (3) must not exceed 10% of the gross salary except with the written consent of the person.

Before an amount or entitlement is deducted or withheld under subregulation (3), the person must be given:

written notice of details of the overpayment and the amount proposed to be deducted or withheld; and

a reasonable opportunity to propose an alternative arrangement to repay the overpayment.

The Accountable Officer for an Agency, or the Treasurer, may enter into an alternative arrangement with a person to repay an overpayment if:

the arrangement is reasonable in the circumstances; and

the risk of not being able to recover the entire overpayment is low; and

the arrangement would not result in any added costs to the Territory or Agency.

Example for subregulation (6)

An employee who is having financial difficulties could be allowed a longer payment plan with lower individual deductions, as long as the plan does not result in additional fringe benefits tax.

Despite subregulations (4) to (6), if recovering an overpayment from a person on the cessation of the person's employment or office, any amount or entitlement due to the person must be first used to repay the overpayment.

Example for subregulation (7)

When an employee who received an overpayment leaves the public service, the person's long service leave must be used to pay off the overpayment. Any amount left over is then paid out to the employee.