The CDDA Scheme allows the Department of Home Affairs including the Australian Border Force (the department) to pay compensation when a person or organisation has suffered detriment because of the department's defective administration, when there is no legal requirement to make a payment. The CDDA Scheme is permissive, meaning that there is no obligation to approve a payment in any individual case.
You should complete this this application form if you are the person or organisation that has suffered detriment (the applicant), or their authorised representative (authorised representative).
Detriment is a financial or non-financial loss that happened because of an error or mistake by the department. The loss must be:
- directly caused by the defective administration on the part of the department
- something you can measure in dollars.
You will need to provide evidence showing the amount of the loss and that the applicant paid for it.
Please note: the applicant is considered the person or organisation that has suffered the detriment. The applicant may authorise someone (the authorised representative) to act on their behalf. This may be a:
- friend
- lawyer
- customs broker
- freight forwarder
- migration agent
- family member.
An authorised representative is someone that can communicate with the department, make statements and provide evidence on the applicant’s behalf.
