Post by Banjo on Dec 10, 2010 11:40:58 GMT 7
Centrelink targets welfare rort small fry
HIGH-END welfare cheats have been ignored while federal welfare investigators pursued small-scale debts, a government audit report has found.
The Australian National Audit Office review of Centrelink fraud investigations has reported that auditors found 87 per cent of the cases they examined did not comply with official investigation rules.
The auditors also found the Centrelink investigations were part of a system that favoured a focus on easy targets rather than complex, serious fraud investigations.
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The audit report, tabled in Parliament yesterday, said that ''many cases'' involving debts to Centrelink of more than $30,000 had not been immediately investigated as required by Centrelink rules and that higher debts with evidence of fraudulent behaviour were not referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Centrelink distributes $87 billion in social security payments to about 7 million recipients a year. Keeping abuse of the system to a minimum was ''a major and ongoing task for Centrelink'', the report said.
It has identified the savings targets imposed on Centrelink investigators as a major driver in the priority given to easy cases, ''at the expense of progressing the more complex, serious fraud investigations''.
In recent years, the total amount of Centrelink debts recovered as a result of compliance activities had risen from $419 million in 2006-07 to $536 million 2008-09.
But over the same period, debts identified through fraud investigations dropped from $127 million to $113 million.
In the past year, the achievement of Centrelink's fraud targets had been tied to individual performance of Centrelink fraud investigators in areas such as the number of investigations completed and the number of prosecutions referred to and accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions. ''These targets do not distinguish between outcomes by complexity of the fraud, and are not aligned with Centrelink's serious fraud priorities,'' the audit report says.
Centrelink's pursuit of targets at the officer level, including the selection of less complex cases for investigation, ''has the potential to compromise the quality of fraud investigations''.
Centrelink performance reports revealed many serious fraud investigations had been ongoing for three years or more.
''Centrelink has acknowledged these issues and has since advised that investigations targets are under review.''
The auditors reviewed a random sample of 113 investigations and found limited managerial guidance in case selection. Only 5 per cent of investigations that had an intelligence assessment resulted in referral for prosecution, compared with 77 per cent of more straightforward debt cases.
The audit report also revealed inconsistencies in Centrelink figures on the number of fraud investigations and their cost. Centrelink's annual report for 2008-09 reported 26,084 fraud investigations but its fraud investigation case management system reported 39,106 investigations.
The Department of Human Services, which oversees Centrelink, reported that $405 million was spent on Centrelink's fraud-related activities but Centrelink itself was unable to confirm this.
The general manager of the Human Services agency responsible for Centrelink, Hank Jongen, said Centrelink had addressed many of the audit recommendations to improve fraud-management systems.
www.theage.com.au/national/centrelink-targets-welfare-rort-small-fry-20100930-15zc6.html
HIGH-END welfare cheats have been ignored while federal welfare investigators pursued small-scale debts, a government audit report has found.
The Australian National Audit Office review of Centrelink fraud investigations has reported that auditors found 87 per cent of the cases they examined did not comply with official investigation rules.
The auditors also found the Centrelink investigations were part of a system that favoured a focus on easy targets rather than complex, serious fraud investigations.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The audit report, tabled in Parliament yesterday, said that ''many cases'' involving debts to Centrelink of more than $30,000 had not been immediately investigated as required by Centrelink rules and that higher debts with evidence of fraudulent behaviour were not referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Centrelink distributes $87 billion in social security payments to about 7 million recipients a year. Keeping abuse of the system to a minimum was ''a major and ongoing task for Centrelink'', the report said.
It has identified the savings targets imposed on Centrelink investigators as a major driver in the priority given to easy cases, ''at the expense of progressing the more complex, serious fraud investigations''.
In recent years, the total amount of Centrelink debts recovered as a result of compliance activities had risen from $419 million in 2006-07 to $536 million 2008-09.
But over the same period, debts identified through fraud investigations dropped from $127 million to $113 million.
In the past year, the achievement of Centrelink's fraud targets had been tied to individual performance of Centrelink fraud investigators in areas such as the number of investigations completed and the number of prosecutions referred to and accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions. ''These targets do not distinguish between outcomes by complexity of the fraud, and are not aligned with Centrelink's serious fraud priorities,'' the audit report says.
Centrelink's pursuit of targets at the officer level, including the selection of less complex cases for investigation, ''has the potential to compromise the quality of fraud investigations''.
Centrelink performance reports revealed many serious fraud investigations had been ongoing for three years or more.
''Centrelink has acknowledged these issues and has since advised that investigations targets are under review.''
The auditors reviewed a random sample of 113 investigations and found limited managerial guidance in case selection. Only 5 per cent of investigations that had an intelligence assessment resulted in referral for prosecution, compared with 77 per cent of more straightforward debt cases.
The audit report also revealed inconsistencies in Centrelink figures on the number of fraud investigations and their cost. Centrelink's annual report for 2008-09 reported 26,084 fraud investigations but its fraud investigation case management system reported 39,106 investigations.
The Department of Human Services, which oversees Centrelink, reported that $405 million was spent on Centrelink's fraud-related activities but Centrelink itself was unable to confirm this.
The general manager of the Human Services agency responsible for Centrelink, Hank Jongen, said Centrelink had addressed many of the audit recommendations to improve fraud-management systems.
www.theage.com.au/national/centrelink-targets-welfare-rort-small-fry-20100930-15zc6.html