The 2 Lefties Philly and Greggy team up because they are annoyed. Wonder if they are both Aboriginal ?

Just what will a Newstart increase actually achieve ?  Probably not much except more demands for more money.

Now a touch of nostalgic NewStart Welfare Fraud.



Tackling welfare fraud is worth it
CHRIS PIPPOS JANUARY 14 2013 - 10:30PM

SINGLE parenting and Newstart payment fraud accounts for almost three quarters of total welfare rort convictions, a new report has found.

This is followed by Disability Support Pension and Partnered Parenting Payment rorts, which make up a further 15 per cent  of welfare fraud convictions across the country.

And women, many in the 31-50-year-old age bracket, comprise two-thirds of convicted offenders, contributing to an average of about 3000 cases a year involving Centrelink customers defrauding the system.

The figures were released last month in a report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, which sourced data spanning between 1997-2010 from Centrelink and the Federal Government.

The AIC has now flagged greater ``covert surveillance'', which is proving more successful in Hobart than any other capital city, to catch welfare cheats.


``. . . across the top 15 benefit types for fraud for 2008-09, the Single Parenting Payment accounted for 39.6 per cent  of convictions and 46.9 per cent of debt associated with prosecution,'' the report noted.

``The Newstart Allowance (unemployment benefit) accounted for 32.3 per cent  of convictions and 23.9 per cent  of debt associated with prosecution.

``Together, they accounted for 72 per cent  of convictions and 70.7 per cent ($33.5m) of debt.

``This means that if fraud could be prevented in these two areas alone, then an extraordinary 70.7 per cent of all fraud could be prevented in financial terms and over 2000 court cases could be dispensed with each year.''

The report also found -

? ?In 2008-2009, 1023 covert surveillance operations (outsourced to a private firm) were completed with 589 deemed ``actionable'' leading to a reduction of $5.5 million in welfare payments and $21.2 million debt recovered;

?Covert investigations had an ``effectiveness indicator'' of 72.5 per cent;

?Public tip-offs received in 2008-2009 triggered 50,277 Centrelink reviews and debts and savings of $119.3 million;

?In 2007-2008, Centrelink received 101,595 tip-offs nationwide, and;

?16.2 per cent of tip-offs resulted in an alteration to the recipient's payment.

?The report also showed taxpayers were getting good bang for their buck in Hobart, with an average $39,597 being saved per fraud investigation (38 completed in 2008-2009).

However there was no mention of the success or otherwise in other parts of Tasmania.

The AIC made a number of suggestions to tackle welfare fraud, including prevention and compliance measures.

``A number of specific strategies to reduce fraud could also be trialled, including increased numbers of compliance reviews and increased earlier detection of error,'' it summarised.

``Greater use might also be made of covert surveillance and system penetration tests.


``Alternatives to welfare should also be considered as a likely key means to both reduce the welfare poverty trap and reduce opportunities for fraud.

``These include enlarging compulsory superannuation, increasing the retirement age, enlarging supported employment for persons with disabilities and adopting a genuine full employment program.''



https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/1235228/tackling-welfare-fraud-is-worth-it/...