AAT member says he was benched after too many decisions against government

A member of the administrative appeals tribunal has said he was benched from hearing social security cases because he decided too many against the government.

The AAT is an independent tribunal that conducts merit reviews of government decisions, such as DSS decisions to refuse welfare payments or to recoup jobseeker and jobkeeper overpayments.

The AAT was the forum in which welfare recipients argued against robodebts before the government later conceded after court action that the process of raising debts based on income-averaging was unlawful.

These include what compensation moneys are counted when calculating the preclusion period before an injured person can receive welfare and time limits for the department to recover allegedly overpaid jobseeker and jobkeeper payments.

Manetta was reappointed for a further five-year term in May 2021, after a positive performance review by a retired federal judge, he said.

In September, Manetta was removed from social security cases and given only child support cases, which are revenue-neutral for the government. Manetta objected in writing to Synon, the AAT president and later to the acting president.

Manetta refused to do only child support work, and was delisted, meaning he is not currently hearing cases despite holding an appointment to May 2026.