Scammers target Far North flood fund in hardship grant rort

Reports have emerged from a disaster-ravaged Far North community of fraudsters wrongfully claiming to live in flood-impacted areas in order to pocket recovery cash.

The remains of the Bana Yirriji Art and Cultural Centre and cafe at Wujal Wujal after the flood peaked on December 17. Picture: Bronwyn Farr

Reports have emerged from a disaster-ravaged Far North community of fraudsters wrongfully claiming to live in flood-impacted areas in order to pocket recovery cash.

State-administered hardship grants of $180 per person and up to $900 for a family of five or more became available for eligible residents living in Cairns, Douglas, Wujal Wujal, Cook, Cassowary Coast, Hope Vale, Mareeba, Tablelands and Yarrabah local government areas in the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper.

To be eligible recipients must live or be stranded in an area affected by the flood event, suffered hardship, or are unable to meet their immediate essential needs for food, clothing, and medical supplies.

The Australian Defence Force deployed two Chinook helicopters and two AW139 helicopters on December 19 for the mandatory evacuation of 300 people from Wujal Wujal, on the Bloomfield River, following devastating flooding. Picture: ADF

However it’s understood some Wujal Wujal residents recently applying for the grant were told 60 other applicants had previously claimed cash using the same address.

One resident provided state government workers a list of people who actually lived at the Wujal Wujal property to weed out the fraudulent claimants.

Though a driver's licence or other photo ID is required as proof of address before claims are paid, it’s understood there are challenges associated with getting funds out the door to flood victims – who literally had everything they owned washed away – while also ensuring fraudulent claims are not paid.

Wujal Wujal Mayor Bradley Creek has heard ‘whispers’ of the flood recovery rort.

Wujal Wujal Mayor Bradley Creek confirmed reports that unscrupulous disaster applicants had claimed to be living in the town at the time of the December flood event.

“I heard a bit of whisper around that stuff, I could see it coming from miles away, people using Wujal to claim that money,” he said.

“The government has not said anything (about it) but it would be good if they gave us the heads up and council can relay the message back to community.”

In 2022 more than $22m of taxpayers’ dollars was prevented from being paid to those trying to rort the Australian Government Disaster Recovery payment schemes and since 2019 more than 250 people have been convicted of disaster payment fraud.

However, alleged rorts emerging from Wujal Wujal this week were the first time scammers targeting a Cyclone Jasper cash relief pool had been reported.

What was also concerning to Mr Creek was hearing about delays in allocation of disaster relief for his people, who had been evacuated from the Bloomfield River community devastated by flooding.

“A lot of them never got the grants and are still waiting,” he said.

A $119.1m recovery and resilience package jointly funded by the state and federal governments was announced in January.

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Originally published as Scammers target Far North flood fund in hardship grant rort