Sometimes decisions made by DFAT can have unintended, unfair, unreasonable or inappropriate impacts on people. In these situations, there are discretionary mechanisms to address financial impacts.

On this page you will find information about the types of financial remedies that may be available depending on your individual circumstances.

These include:

• Compensation for Detriment Caused by Defective Administration (CDDA) Scheme
• Waiver of Debt
• Act of Grace Payments

The CDDA Scheme allows DFAT to consider and provide compensation for inappropriate actions (defective administration) by us that has caused you a loss (detriment).

Waiver of Debt and Act of Grace Payments are 'last resort' mechanisms, which will generally only be considered once alternate remedies have been sought.

Compensation for Detriment Caused by Defective Administration (CDDA) Scheme

If you think we have made a mistake that caused you to lose money or experience other problems, you can ask for compensation under the CDDA Scheme.

The CDDA Scheme allows DFAT to compensate people who have been negatively affected because we acted incorrectly or failed to act when we should have.

Compensation under the CDDA Scheme is usually considered only when there are no other ways to remedy the defective administration.

DFAT assesses claims under the CDDA Scheme following the Department of Finance guidance (RMG 409).

When considering a claim, the aim is to return you to the position you would have been in if the mistake had not happened.

The CDDA Scheme is discretionary. This means there is no automatic entitlement to a payment, even if someone has experienced a loss.

How to make a CDDA Scheme claim

To make a CDDA Scheme claim, you need to show all of the following:

• our administration was defective
• you suffered a loss or detriment as a result
• it is reasonably foreseeable that the defective administration would cause this loss or detriment.

The CDDA Scheme does not provide compensation for grief, anxiety, hurt, humiliation, embarrassment, disappointment, stress or frustration unless these relate to personal injury that has arisen as a direct result of the defective administration - no matter how intense the emotion may be.

If you want to make a claim, you can submit it via the Feedback Portal.

After you make a claim

We'll email you to confirm we have received your claim.

We aim to resolve claims in a timely manner and will keep in contact with you as the claim progresses. However, processing time varies depending on your individual circumstances and the complexities of each claim.

After a decision is made

We will notify you in writing of the outcome of your claim.

If you are not happy with the outcome of your claim, you may lodge a complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can review DFAT's actions.

Further information

The Department of Finance website has more information about the CDDA Scheme.

Privacy

DFAT will collect the personal information you submit when making a claim, including in any attachments you provide. This information is collected to assess and manage your application for compensation under the CDDA Scheme.

The personal information you provide may also be used to improve the services we provide.

Providing personal information in a CDDA application is voluntary, and you may withdraw your compensation claim at any time. However, if you do not provide enough information for us to be able to assess your claim, it may not be able to be processed.

DFAT will disclose your personal information to third parties, including third parties that are located outside of Australia, for the purpose of assessing or managing your claim. This may include:

• other Commonwealth, State or Local Government agencies
• foreign governments
• DFAT's contract service providers
• third parties that may hold information relevant to our assessment of the matters set out in your claim, including third parties that can verify any information you have provided in your claim. 

DFAT's Privacy Policy contains important information including how you can access and seek correction of personal information we hold about you, how to make a privacy complaint and how we will deal with such a complaint. If you have any queries about how we manage your personal information, please contact our Privacy Team at privacy@dfat.gov.au.

Debts owed to DFAT

If you owe money to DFAT and are having difficulty repaying your debt, we encourage you to contact the area managing your debt. They may be able to assist with:

• deferring your payment of the debt to a later date
• setting up or adjusting your repayment arrangement to take account of your  circumstances
• reviewing whether the debt should have been raised.

If you have a Traveller Emergency Loan (TEL) debt, please be aware that an outstanding TEL debt can impact future passport applications.  To avoid this, DFAT recommends you engage with the TELS Unit to discuss repayment options. 

As a TEL is an interest free loan, your potential to repay the loan in the future is taken into account when considering options for managing your debt. 

Below is the contact information for areas within DFAT that may be responsible for your debt.

Waiver of Debt

A Waiver of Debt permanently removes your obligation to repay a Commonwealth debt.

A Waiver of Debt is only considered in extenuating circumstances and is not used to address financial hardship.  

All requests for a Waiver of Debt must be made to the Department of Finance. DFAT's role is to provide information to the Department of Finance, which manages the process.

Before submitting an application you should speak with DFAT to ensure all other options (such as repayment arrangements) have been considered.

Your application should include:

• information about how your debt arose, including your personal circumstances at the time the debt was incurred
• details of any discussions with DFAT about repaying your debt, including whether you have an existing repayment plan
• information on why you are applying to have your debt waived, including your personal and financial circumstances
• any other information that you consider is relevant to your application. 

The Department of Finance website has information about Waiver of Debt and the application process for Waiver of Debt.

Act of Grace Payments

You can apply for an Act of Grace Payment if you believe the Australian Government legislation, actions or omissions have unintentionally disadvantaged you.

The Australian Government can make an Act of Grace Payment if the decision-maker considers it appropriate because of special circumstances. Payments are discretionary and made by the Finance Minister or their delegate.

An Act of Grace Payment is a remedy of last resort when no other suitable remedy exists. 

If other avenues are available to you to claim compensation, it is recommended you investigate those before lodging an application for an Act of Grace payment.

DFAT's role is to provide information to the Department of Finance, which manages the process.

To apply for an Act of Grace Payment, your application should explain:

how DFAT actions unintentionally and inequitably you

how Commonwealth legislation or policy administered by DFAT had an unintended, anomalous, inequitable or otherwise unacceptable impact on you, and these circumstances were:

• specific to you
• outside your control
• consistent with the overall intention of the legislation
• how a matter, not covered by existing legislation or specific policy, but DFAT intends to introduce such legislation or policy, will impact you.

The Department of Finance website has information about Act of Grace Payments and the application process for Act of Grace.

Important information

Please note the above information is provided for guidance only.  There may be other factors or information relevant to your circumstances which you should consider including in your CDDA Scheme Claim, application for a Waiver of Debt or an Act of Grace Payment.