Figures reveal that welfare cheats, tax rorters and crooked public servants – in short people who thrive on fraud, are robbing more than $600 million a year as part of a fraud epidemic across Australia.
These numbers come from the Centrelink, Customs and other government agencies in 2008-09 and report more than 800,000 incidents of fraud during this period. With thousands of families struggling to make ends meet, the cost of welfare fraud rose by 10 per cent to $489 million. As part of investigations hundreds of public servants were investigated for fraud counts like misusing credit cards, stealing equipment and passing on confidential information.
The Gillard Government is gearing up for the May budget and alongside the Australian Institute of Criminology reported just $139 million - or 23 per cent - of the stolen money was recovered. The institute's landmark report, 'Fraud against the Commonwealth' reveals “reported” fraud against the Commonwealth reached $589 million in 2008-09. Fraud was also being “underestimated” said authors. They write that the real cost to taxpayers was much higher. “Just 31 per cent of agencies that experienced internal fraud recovered money relating to the incident(s),” the report said. “The amounts recovered were diverse, ranging from a minimum of $30 through to a maximum of $263,062.”
Big chunk of fraudsters were youngsters ripping off the dole and single mums on parent payments. Nearly 700,000 incidents of social security fraud were reported in the 2008-09 audit, which occurred at the height of the global financial crisis. Nearly 15,000 cases of welfare fraud were reported involving international students and other foreigners illegally claiming visas and citizenship entitlements. The institute's survey revealed eight government taxi cards were stolen, while 18 agencies reported credit card fraud. It found 70 cases of “theft of telecommunications or computer equipment (including mobile devices)”.
Home Affairs and Justice Minister Brendan O'Connor said the Government was determined to crack down on the “significant amount of money” being defrauded. “We have increased the numbers of people dedicated to fraud across agencies by more than one-third in the last 12 months,” he said. In 2006-07, the loss from fraud was calculated by government agencies to be just $34 million, but this jumped to nearly $600 million as the level of reporting became more robust. Agencies including the Australian Crime Commission and Australian Federal Police and Centrelink and the Australian Tax Office are united to fight this crime wave.
Opposition justice spokesman Michael Keenan said fraudsters were helped by government mismanagement of programs like the roof insulation scheme and a program that saw billions spent on new school buildings. “Through the mismanagement of taxpayers' money, Labor have given a helping hand to fraudsters who seek to take advantage of sorts from badly-run government programs,” Mr. Keenan said.
A new website will also give easy access to information on how to control fraud. “These new resources will also help agencies conduct more rigorous risk assessments and undertake detailed fraud prevention planning,” Mr. O'Connor said.