8.5.1.1 — DVA may request Centrelink to recover a DVA debt via deductions from a customer's Centrelink payment.

8.5.1.2 — A written request to recover a debt should be faxed to the relevant Centrelink Area Recovery Team Contact. This request titled DEBT – Centrelink – first debt notification – DVA Overpayment, may be obtained from the Y: Drive at Y:\97 Templates\IS ROOLS Letter Templates (Non MetaFrame users), or Y:\Application (MetaFrame users).

8.5.1.3 — A list of the relevant Centrelink Area Recovery Team contacts in your local area may be obtained through the National Office Income Support intranet site.    

8.5.1.4 — When requesting that an overpayment be recovered, Centrelink should be provided with the following details:

• debtor's full name, address (home and postal) and date of birth
• both Centrelink and DVA reference numbers
• DVA payment type; and
• total overpayment amount.

8.5.1.5 — Centrelink then manually raise the debt on their Debt Management Information System (DMIS) and decide on the withholding rate and respond to any queries regarding the rate. As DVA hold information regarding the overpayment it is DVA's responsibility to respond to any queries regarding the account.

8.5.1.6 — Centrelink will then return the acknowledgment section of the request form providing confirmation to DVA of the deduction rate and the day on which the deductions will commence. This allows DVA to adjust its records to show the anticipated date of recovery. Centrelink should also advise the debtor of the date on which deductions will commence.

8.5.1.7 — At this stage in the process, the debt should be identified in DMRS as one being recovered by deductions from Centrelink benefits. These details can be recorded in the Other Department Details sub-folder which can be found under the Debt Details folder. Where Centrelink is recovering a debt on DVA's behalf the field: Is DVA the collecting Agency, should be set to 'No'. Other relevant information such as the Agency Client Rego UIN, Agency Name, Reference Number etc. should be recorded.

8.5.1.8 — A debtor's financial circumstances should only be reviewed annually, (unless the debtor initiates a review in that period), taking into account any CPI increases during that year and the level of withholdings adjusted accordingly by Centrelink.

8.5.1.9 — Centrelink should advise DVA of the status of each debt quarterly. When DVA advise the relevant Centrelink Recovery Team Contact of amounts they have recovered on Centrelink's behalf, DVA must also send a form with details of any debts Centrelink are recovering on behalf of DVA. Centrelink are to check these debts and document all withholding deductions and return the form to DVA. These reports should be carefully monitored to ensure that the correct amount of withholdings are being applied and to verify the date of full recovery.

8.5.1.10 — Centrelink should advise DVA when the full amount of the debt has been recovered and payments will increase to the level of full entitlement. DVA should then advise the debtor that deductions from Centrelink payments have ceased and the date that full payment will be restored.

8.5.1.11 — It is not necessary to remit funds between departments, as all money recovered is part of consolidated revenue. The records of both departments are simply updated to show that recovery action has been finalised.

8.5.1.12 — If at any time the Centrelink pension or benefits cease while deductions are in force, a broken agency arrangement is created. Centrelink are to reduce the debt amount by the total withholdings received to date and send a manual Report of Recovery (Q557) letter to DVA so that renegotiation can commence with the debtor.

8.5.2.1 — All cases where approval has been given to write off or defer recovery of a debt should be subject to regular reviews, except those where recovery would never be possible, (e.g.. a deceased debtor leaving no estate). These cases are recorded on DMRS, and their details can be accessed by previewing a report using the DMRS 'Report' facility in VIEW.

8.5.3.1 — Apart from dealing directly with the debtor (if whereabouts are known), DVA can obtain information directly from Centrelink through the Debt Management Section in the appropriate Area Office. Cases where Centrelink information would be invaluable are:

• if recovery of a debt was deferred because of an imminent grant of Centrelink pension, benefit or allowance, on which deductions could be implemented
• if recovery was deferred because Centrelink was unable to implement deductions because another debt was being recovered from current payments
• if the debt was written off because the debtor had no capacity to repay and was not expecting any future pension grant
• if the debt was written off due to 'whereabouts unknown', Centrelink information may assist in locating and contacting the debtor to negotiate repayments.

8.5.4.1 — Under the VEA there is no right of appeal against recovery of an overpayment. Therefore a veteran cannot appeal the method or amount of recovery of a DVA debt. While under section 57 [9] VEA there is no formal right of review against the decision to recover an overpayment, a pensioner may request to have a review of the original decision which led to the overpayment. Similarly, while there is no formal right of review against an automatic cancellation/reduction, a pensioner may request an officer of the Department to informally examine the facts of the case which lead to the reduction/cancellation. This would not be considered a formal review under section 57 [9] VEA and therefore the decision would not be appealable to the AAT.