‘Frauds’: ‘Rampant’ and ‘systemic’ issue plaguing Australia

There are growing concerns over the number of “frauds” who are fuelling a “rampant” and “systematic” issue in Australia.

There are concerns a growing number of “frauds” are falsely identifying as Aboriginal to claim numerous benefits they should not be entitled to.

The 2021 census results from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which were released earlier this year, revealed 812,728 people identified as Indigenous.

This was a 25 per cent increase from just five years earlier, leading to concerns there is a sinister reason behind the rise.

Sydney-based Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive Nathan Moran said people falsely identifying as Aboriginal had been a “rampant” and “systematic” issue for around two decades.

The number of people who identified as Aboriginal rose by 24 per cent in the census. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“I’d suggest that this discussion has been happening and occurring on the basis that more people were ticking a box to identify as Aboriginal than what were being born as Aboriginal,” he told 2GB on Tuesday.

“We can track back to the mid ’90s that census data showed a big difference in the number of people identifying as Aboriginal versus those who were born as Aboriginal.”

Mr Moran said individuals were knowingly doing it to access benefits and concessions that were specifically for Aboriginal people.

“There were certainly attempts to overcome disparity, inequity, a lack of fairness and justice for Aboriginal people in access and services, so we commenced what was known as identified jobs, identified programs and benefits aimed to overcome that disparity,” he said

“We’ve now got a large proportion, if not a quarter of our population, (who) have chosen to self-identify rather than being born as Aboriginal to take up benefits of housing, scholarships, universities, employment opportunities and programs that are targeted for us to overcome our disadvantage.”

Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive Nathan Moran said something needed to be done. Picture: Damian Shaw

He had one word to describe people who falsely identified as Aboriginal: “frauds”.

“We have people who have openly got no Aboriginal descent who for whatever reason have chosen to identify as Aboriginal, but the system that allows them to simply fill in the statutory declaration,” Mr Moran said.

“It just has to be addressed. It‘s not accurate, it’s not effective, it’s certainly not about the best use of public money.

“We are aghast when we find out that there are people who are self-identified to take up positions that in turn sometimes lead them to be supposedly authorities upon very much the people that they‘re not related to, they’ve just chosen to self-identify as.”

Mr Moran called on originations to use the commonwealth three-part identity test rather than relying on statutory declarations.

“The NSW Land Rights Act and the Native Title Act both stipulate a three-point test for one to be Aboriginal, to be verified or proven as Aboriginal,” he said.

The University of Sydney is pushing to crack down on its Aboriginal identity requirements. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“All we ask is that people apply the law. They simply have a right to ask individuals who identify as Aboriginal, ‘Do you have a confirmation of that claim’ and ‘whom have you received that confirmation from’?”

Under the three-part identity system, an individual must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, identify as such and be accepted by a community they do or used to live in.

It was revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this week that the University of Sydney was pushing for a system where students must produce a confirmation of identity letter from a Local Aboriginal Land Council or other Indigenous community-controlled organisation.

Ben Fordham Live reported on Tuesday that TAFE NSW was also cracking down by developing a confirmation of Aboriginality policy.