Welfare frauds stealing $5 billion of taxpayers’ money

WELFARE cheats have ­defrauded taxpayers of almost $5 billion, with more than 1.1 million in Centrelink debts now owed to the Commonwealth.

The scale of the institutionalised fraud and abuse of the social security safety net has driven the federal government to create a special Australian Federal Police taskforce.

WELFARE cheats have defrauded taxpayers of almost $5 billion with more than 1.1 million Centrelink debts now owed.

The sheer scale of the fraud and abuse of the nation’s social security safety net has now driven the Federal Government to assign the Australian Federal Police to a special taskforce to recover some of the debt and pursue criminal charges.

The fraud cuts across all forms of government payments including Newstart, the Disability Support Pension, Medicare, Youth Allowance and even family payments.

As of September, there was $3 billion in outstanding Centrelink debts already identified and being pursued for recovery from recipients who either knowingly or unknowingly committing welfare fraud.

Human Services Minister Stuart Robert will today announce the establishment of the taskforce.

Mr Robert said the taskforce will not only pursue prosecutions and the debt recovery but serve as a deterrent for anyone thinking of defrauding the taxpayers.

Human Services Minister Stuart Robert. Picture: Jerad Williams

However, the Department of Human Services has found a further $1.7 billion in overpayments, which the AFP joint taskforce will pursue.

The first region to be hit will be suburbs around the Rockdale area of southern Sydney, which was red-flagged when more than 800 cases of overpayment or suspected criminal fraud totalling $2.2 million were discovered during an audit. There are now 36 criminal investigations under way as a result.

A total of nine AFP officers including an assistant commissioner have been assigned to the taskforce of almost 300 DHS officers.

Those found to have knowingly over-claimed payments could face criminal charges or have assets seized under proceeds of crime laws.

The scale of the institutionalised fraud and abuse of the social security safety net has driven the federal government to create a special Australian Federal Police taskforce.

The taskforce will deliberately chase undeclared income, unexplained wealth and undisclosed personal changes of circumstances that affect entitlements.

“Most people are honest and when they get something wrong, they want to do the right thing and fix their mistake,” Mr Robert said.

“However, the unfortunate reality is there remains a small slice of the community who still think it is OK to cheat the system and take more than they are entitled to.

“Anyone taking welfare payments dishonestly has to understand this is theft, and the consequences are serious.

“You will get caught, you will have to pay the money back and you may be prosecuted and go to prison. If you have profited from the fraud your assets may also be seized as proceeds of crime.”

But organised crime syndicates have also been identified as setting up fake identities, and stealing the identities of the dead, to claim payments.

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