Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Secretary may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, decide to write off an overpayment debt, for a stated period or otherwise.
(2) The Secretary may decide to write off an overpayment debt under subsection (1) if, and only if:
(a) the debt is irrecoverable at law; or
(b) the debtor has no capacity to repay the debt; or
(c) the debtor's whereabouts are unknown after all reasonable efforts have been made to locate the debtor; or
(d) it is not cost effective to take action to recover the debt.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), an overpayment debt is irrecoverable at law if, and only if:
(a) the debt cannot be recovered by means of legal proceedings because the period during which such proceedings may be brought has ended; or
(b) there is no proof of the debt capable of sustaining legal proceedings for its recovery; or
(c) the debtor is discharged from bankruptcy and the debt was incurred before the debtor became bankrupt and was not incurred by fraud; or
(d) the debtor has died leaving no estate or insufficient funds in the debtor's estate to repay the debt.
(4) A decision made under subsection (1) takes effect on the date of effect specified in the decision (which may be earlier or later than the day the decision is made).
(5) Nothing in this section prevents anything being done at any time to recover a debt that has been written off under this section.