Post by Denis-NFA on Jul 25, 2012 10:43:35 GMT 7
High Court challenge over Centrelink changes casts doubt on welfare fraud convictions
by: NICOLA BERKOVIC
From: The Australian
July 25, 2012 10:12AM
MORE than 15,000 convictions for welfare fraud could be in doubt with the launch of a High Court challenge to retrospective laws that made it a crime for welfare recipients to fail to update Centrelink about any changes impacting on their payments.
The case, which could result in fraud convictions being overturned for individuals who have already served jail sentences, comes after a string of crushing High Court defeats for the Gillard government, including the defeat of its Malaysia asylum seeker solution and a recent blow to the school chaplaincy scheme that left hundreds of government grant programs in doubt.
Melbourne mother-of-three Kelli Keating, who was charged with welfare fraud after being overpaid $6942 by Centrelink, has filed the High Court challenge backed by Victoria Legal Aid.
Ms Keating was working part-time and receiving the single parenting payment. The overpayment occurred because her working hours changed each fortnight.
Although she has repaid most of the money, Ms Keating has been prosecuted for welfare fraud under legislation introduced last year.
The legislation, which was backdated to March 2000, made it a crime for welfare recipients to fail to update Centrelink on any changes to their circumstances that could affect their benefits within 14 days.
Victoria Legal Aid director of civil justice, access and equity Kristen Hilton said the law unjustly targeted people who were not welfare cheats but were overpaid by Centrelink often through a genuine mistake.
Ms Hilston said Centrelink data showed it often miscalculated benefits.
"If Centrelink can get it wrong so often, it's not surprising that people who are poor, illiterate, have a disability, or don't speak English well, might misunderstand what they need to report to Centrelink," she said.
She said imposing a criminal record on a person in those circumstances made no sense because it hampered their ability to find work and become independent of welfare.
Ms Hilton said the law was particularly harsh because it was retrospective. This turned an oversight into a crime even though it was not one at the time it occurred.
She said Ms Keating was overpaid by Centrelink between 2005 and 2009, but the law was not changed until 2011.
The legislation was rushed through parliament last year following a High Court challenge by Adelaide woman Malgorzata Poniatowska. The High Court ruled Ms Poniatowska's "omission" or failure to update Centrelink on changes to her circumstances was not a crime.
It was aimed at closing what was seen as a legal loophole, in which welfare recipients could not be punished for failing to update Centrelink on changes to their circumstances, and safeguarding about 15,000 convictions for welfare fraud dating back to 2000.
Ms Keating will argue the legislation is unconstitutional because it is retrospective and offends the principle that criminal laws should be clear and ascertainable, so individuals know what the law is at the time they are said to have offended it. It is also said to breach the separation of powers between legislators and courts.
She will be represented by Debbie Mortimer SC, the barrister who successfully led the High Court challenge to the Malaysia solution.
by: NICOLA BERKOVIC
From: The Australian
July 25, 2012 10:12AM
MORE than 15,000 convictions for welfare fraud could be in doubt with the launch of a High Court challenge to retrospective laws that made it a crime for welfare recipients to fail to update Centrelink about any changes impacting on their payments.
The case, which could result in fraud convictions being overturned for individuals who have already served jail sentences, comes after a string of crushing High Court defeats for the Gillard government, including the defeat of its Malaysia asylum seeker solution and a recent blow to the school chaplaincy scheme that left hundreds of government grant programs in doubt.
Melbourne mother-of-three Kelli Keating, who was charged with welfare fraud after being overpaid $6942 by Centrelink, has filed the High Court challenge backed by Victoria Legal Aid.
Ms Keating was working part-time and receiving the single parenting payment. The overpayment occurred because her working hours changed each fortnight.
Although she has repaid most of the money, Ms Keating has been prosecuted for welfare fraud under legislation introduced last year.
The legislation, which was backdated to March 2000, made it a crime for welfare recipients to fail to update Centrelink on any changes to their circumstances that could affect their benefits within 14 days.
Victoria Legal Aid director of civil justice, access and equity Kristen Hilton said the law unjustly targeted people who were not welfare cheats but were overpaid by Centrelink often through a genuine mistake.
Ms Hilston said Centrelink data showed it often miscalculated benefits.
"If Centrelink can get it wrong so often, it's not surprising that people who are poor, illiterate, have a disability, or don't speak English well, might misunderstand what they need to report to Centrelink," she said.
She said imposing a criminal record on a person in those circumstances made no sense because it hampered their ability to find work and become independent of welfare.
Ms Hilton said the law was particularly harsh because it was retrospective. This turned an oversight into a crime even though it was not one at the time it occurred.
She said Ms Keating was overpaid by Centrelink between 2005 and 2009, but the law was not changed until 2011.
The legislation was rushed through parliament last year following a High Court challenge by Adelaide woman Malgorzata Poniatowska. The High Court ruled Ms Poniatowska's "omission" or failure to update Centrelink on changes to her circumstances was not a crime.
It was aimed at closing what was seen as a legal loophole, in which welfare recipients could not be punished for failing to update Centrelink on changes to their circumstances, and safeguarding about 15,000 convictions for welfare fraud dating back to 2000.
Ms Keating will argue the legislation is unconstitutional because it is retrospective and offends the principle that criminal laws should be clear and ascertainable, so individuals know what the law is at the time they are said to have offended it. It is also said to breach the separation of powers between legislators and courts.
She will be represented by Debbie Mortimer SC, the barrister who successfully led the High Court challenge to the Malaysia solution.