Federal Government to continue to use private investigators in crackdown on welfare cheats
PRIVATE investigators will continue to be used to catch welfare cheats in covert surveillance operations amid an ongoing federal government crackdown.
National
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PRIVATE investigators will continue to be used to catch welfare cheats in covert surveillance operations amid an ongoing federal government crackdown.
The “private enquiry agents” have been used to catch suspected fraudsters in almost 300 cases since 2012.
Dole-bludgers claiming unemployment benefits while working cash jobs, committing identity fraud, faking illnesses, or pretending to be single to claim more taxpayer money have been caught up in the stings.
It’s part of an ongoing crackdown on welfare cheats as the government attempts to claw back billions of dollars in falsely claimed or overpaid welfare.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge confirmed the program, which has cost taxpayers a total of $380,250 since 2012-13, is being renewed for another three to five years after the current contract ends on December 31.
“Optical surveillance is only used in discrete cases where there is a reasonable and strong suspicion of welfare fraud, and after careful consideration of all privacy implications,” Minister Tudge told News Corp Australia.
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“It has been used for decades but we are now using it much less because more sophisticated detection technology such as data matching and data analytics can detect fraud much earlier.
“While it is not used often it is still important evidence which assists the prosecution of welfare fraud.”
Physical surveillance, which can include capturing video footage of suspected welfare cheats, was just one of the tools used to gather evidence to support the potential criminal prosecutions.
The number of welfare cheats needing to be trailed physically has shrunk dramatically in recent years however due to improvements in the department’s online compliance checks.
Covert surveillance was used in just 20 cases last year, compared to 143 cases five years ago.
Improvements in data-matching and data analytics has anabled the department to spot and correct any compliance issues earlier, Minister Tudge said.
The program used by Centrelink to match welfare data with Australian Tax Office data, which led to the controversial ‘robo-debt’ scare earlier this year, is one example.
More than 220,800 debt notices were sent out between July 2016 and January using the automated system.
Any private investigators enquiring about the position must hold a current licence as an “Investigation or Private Enquiry Agent” or have the equivalent licence from their state or territory authority.
Originally published as Federal Government to continue to use private investigators in crackdown on welfare cheats
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