your claim to be successful under the CDDA scheme, the decision maker must be satisfied that: there was defective administration by the department the loss or detriment you suffered was a direct result of the department's defective administration and the type of detriment suffered by you must have been reasonably foreseeable by the department. Defective administration is defined as: a specific and unreasonable lapse in complying with existing administrative procedures or an unreasonable failure to institute appropriate administrative procedures or an unreasonable failure to give to (or for) an applicant, the proper advice that was within the official's power and knowledge to give (or reasonably capable of being obtained by the official to give) or giving advice to (or for) an applicant that was, in all the circumstances, incorrect or ambiguous. The overarching principle of the CDDA scheme is to restore you to the position you would have been in had the defective administration not occurred. Act of Grace payment The Act of Grace Scheme is administered by the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance). If the Finance Minister or delegate considers it appropriate to do so because of special circumstances, he or she may authorise making an Act of Grace payment. Act of Grace claims are considered on their individual merits. Act of Grace payments are discretionary and may be made where there is a moral, rather than legal liability and there is no other redress available; including where: the direct role of an agent/agency of the department has