Post by Banjo on Jul 27, 2011 6:49:56 GMT 7
Centrelink spy videos fed to media
CENTRELINK is using private investigators to take covert surveillance of welfare cheats and then supplying the material to the media in a practice labelled a "double standard" as the government pursues privacy reform.
The Department of Human Services' fraud and compliance media strategy, obtained by The Australian, reveals that the release of this material is systematic and sanctioned by departmental policy.
"Where there is surveillance footage available for a prosecution case, the Business Integrity Division will let the Media Section know as soon as possible," the strategy says.
"This gives both teams plenty of time to view the tape and to decide if the vision is suitable for release to the media."
Human Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has also sanctioned the release of the footage. She wrote last month to welfare groups that were complaining about the treatment of disability support pensioners by television current affairs programs, admitting the practice occurred and defending it.
"Centrelink will only provide footage obtained from fraud investigations if it relates to a matter that has already been finalised by the courts," Ms Plibersek's letter says.
"Any footage provided is pixelated by Centrelink staff prior to release. Releasing footage under these circumstances does not breach the strict privacy laws Centrelink is bound by."
The department's media strategy details how its advisers are encouraged to alert the media to notable fraud cases before the courts and have a protocol for doing so.
"Important note: In instances where the Media Section makes a tip-off to the media prior to a court appearance, it does not supply written material about the case," the protocol says.
The department's media strategy says the reason it releases this information is for "building confidence in Centrelink" and providing "assurance to government, clients and customers that . . . Centrelink is able to identify and take action against welfare fraud".
NSW Council of Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy, an advocate for tougher privacy laws, said it appeared there was "in a sense a double standard at play" in the government's calls for better privacy protection.
"If you're going to have integrity about your privacy law, the government has got to be just as culpable as anyone else," he told The Australian.
"You can't just have a system where there is one rule for the government and another for everyone else.
"You don't have a department out there leaking information because it is convenient."
Opposition human services spokesman Kevin Andrews said yesterday a reply to a question he placed on notice had revealed that there had been 197 code of conduct investigations of employees of Centrelink, Medicare, the Child Support Agency and other agencies in the year to June 10. Sixty seven of these involved staff accused of improperly accessing personal information.
"At a time when the Labor-Greens alliance is making noises about regulating the media to apparently strengthen the privacy of citizens, the department which holds information on
every Australian has had 67 investigations for improper access to personal information," he said. "I think it's important to know what happened to the 35 investigations where the employee resigned prior to the case being finalised, and three cases where the employee's contract expired prior to the case being finalised."
The concerns about the release of covert footage come after parliament passed government legislation that will allow independent doctors who are Medifraud investigators to look at patient records when they are trying to gather evidence against a doctor.
A spokeswoman for Acting Health Minister Mark Butler said yesterday: "When Medicare requires documentation for compliance purposes, these materials are managed by the patient's health practitioner and a medical practitioner at Medicare to maintain strict privacy provisions."
Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton said patient privacy was "sacrosanct". He supported auditing Medicare, but "nobody should get to see a patient record without good reason", particularly someone not bound by the same privacy code as a doctor.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said last week he would produce a discussion paper based on a 2008 Australian Law Reform Commission report that proposed the creation of a legal right to privacy.
Privacy has been in the spotlight since revelations emerged in Britain of telephone hacking by News of the World journalists.
"There is no general right to privacy in Australia, and that means there's no certainty for anyone wanting to sue for a breach of privacy," Mr O'Connor said on July 21. "The News of the World scandal and other recent mass breaches of privacy at home and abroad have certainly turned the spotlight on the issue of whether Australians should have such a right."
The push for additional protection on privacy coincided with Julia Gillard saying News Limited, publisher of The Australian and the Australian arm of News Corporation, which owns News of the World, had some "hard questions" to answer.
Mr O'Connor has this week insisted the Gillard government's consideration of new privacy laws was not targeted at the media, but at protecting privacy across the community.
A spokesman for Ms Plibersek said last night the release by Centrelink of surveillance footage occurred only in cases where there had been a welfare fraud conviction. "These are made available under strict privacy protocols that have been followed for many years under successive governments," he said. "This includes pixelation of all vision of convicted individuals and only providing information that is on the public record."
Creating public awareness about Centrelink's fraud prevention activities was important for educating customers about their obligations, deterring people from breaking the law and enhancing community confidence in the integrity of the social security system, the spokesman said.
Centrelink staff treated the protection of customer information seriously, which was why there were guidelines for media officers, he said.
The department's media strategy came to light after a coalition of welfare groups wrote to Ms Plibersek and Families Minister Jenny Macklin earlier this year to complain about the vilification of Disability Support Pensioners in recent media stories.
"As you know, only 307 of the 800,000 DSP recipients were prosecuted for fraud last year, and the numbers losing payments as a result of medical reviews (most of which do not involve 'fraud') are not much higher," the groups said in their letter. They sought an assurance "the privacy of customers will be protected by Centrelink, that public humiliation of individuals is not part of the government's compliance strategy, and that the government will contest the vilification of disability pensioners as a group in media stories such as these".
Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said yesterday he could not comment in detail as he was unaware of the specific allegations against Centrelink, but as a government organisation, it was required to comply with the National Privacy Principles, which regulated the use of personal details. The principles would not apply if the agency "de-identified" someone by blurring a picture or removing any identifying information.
www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/centrelink-spy-videos-fed-to-media/story-fn59niix-1226102377650?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAustralianMediaNews+%28The+Australian+|+Media%29
CENTRELINK is using private investigators to take covert surveillance of welfare cheats and then supplying the material to the media in a practice labelled a "double standard" as the government pursues privacy reform.
The Department of Human Services' fraud and compliance media strategy, obtained by The Australian, reveals that the release of this material is systematic and sanctioned by departmental policy.
"Where there is surveillance footage available for a prosecution case, the Business Integrity Division will let the Media Section know as soon as possible," the strategy says.
"This gives both teams plenty of time to view the tape and to decide if the vision is suitable for release to the media."
Human Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has also sanctioned the release of the footage. She wrote last month to welfare groups that were complaining about the treatment of disability support pensioners by television current affairs programs, admitting the practice occurred and defending it.
"Centrelink will only provide footage obtained from fraud investigations if it relates to a matter that has already been finalised by the courts," Ms Plibersek's letter says.
"Any footage provided is pixelated by Centrelink staff prior to release. Releasing footage under these circumstances does not breach the strict privacy laws Centrelink is bound by."
The department's media strategy details how its advisers are encouraged to alert the media to notable fraud cases before the courts and have a protocol for doing so.
"Important note: In instances where the Media Section makes a tip-off to the media prior to a court appearance, it does not supply written material about the case," the protocol says.
The department's media strategy says the reason it releases this information is for "building confidence in Centrelink" and providing "assurance to government, clients and customers that . . . Centrelink is able to identify and take action against welfare fraud".
NSW Council of Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy, an advocate for tougher privacy laws, said it appeared there was "in a sense a double standard at play" in the government's calls for better privacy protection.
"If you're going to have integrity about your privacy law, the government has got to be just as culpable as anyone else," he told The Australian.
"You can't just have a system where there is one rule for the government and another for everyone else.
"You don't have a department out there leaking information because it is convenient."
Opposition human services spokesman Kevin Andrews said yesterday a reply to a question he placed on notice had revealed that there had been 197 code of conduct investigations of employees of Centrelink, Medicare, the Child Support Agency and other agencies in the year to June 10. Sixty seven of these involved staff accused of improperly accessing personal information.
"At a time when the Labor-Greens alliance is making noises about regulating the media to apparently strengthen the privacy of citizens, the department which holds information on
every Australian has had 67 investigations for improper access to personal information," he said. "I think it's important to know what happened to the 35 investigations where the employee resigned prior to the case being finalised, and three cases where the employee's contract expired prior to the case being finalised."
The concerns about the release of covert footage come after parliament passed government legislation that will allow independent doctors who are Medifraud investigators to look at patient records when they are trying to gather evidence against a doctor.
A spokeswoman for Acting Health Minister Mark Butler said yesterday: "When Medicare requires documentation for compliance purposes, these materials are managed by the patient's health practitioner and a medical practitioner at Medicare to maintain strict privacy provisions."
Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton said patient privacy was "sacrosanct". He supported auditing Medicare, but "nobody should get to see a patient record without good reason", particularly someone not bound by the same privacy code as a doctor.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said last week he would produce a discussion paper based on a 2008 Australian Law Reform Commission report that proposed the creation of a legal right to privacy.
Privacy has been in the spotlight since revelations emerged in Britain of telephone hacking by News of the World journalists.
"There is no general right to privacy in Australia, and that means there's no certainty for anyone wanting to sue for a breach of privacy," Mr O'Connor said on July 21. "The News of the World scandal and other recent mass breaches of privacy at home and abroad have certainly turned the spotlight on the issue of whether Australians should have such a right."
The push for additional protection on privacy coincided with Julia Gillard saying News Limited, publisher of The Australian and the Australian arm of News Corporation, which owns News of the World, had some "hard questions" to answer.
Mr O'Connor has this week insisted the Gillard government's consideration of new privacy laws was not targeted at the media, but at protecting privacy across the community.
A spokesman for Ms Plibersek said last night the release by Centrelink of surveillance footage occurred only in cases where there had been a welfare fraud conviction. "These are made available under strict privacy protocols that have been followed for many years under successive governments," he said. "This includes pixelation of all vision of convicted individuals and only providing information that is on the public record."
Creating public awareness about Centrelink's fraud prevention activities was important for educating customers about their obligations, deterring people from breaking the law and enhancing community confidence in the integrity of the social security system, the spokesman said.
Centrelink staff treated the protection of customer information seriously, which was why there were guidelines for media officers, he said.
The department's media strategy came to light after a coalition of welfare groups wrote to Ms Plibersek and Families Minister Jenny Macklin earlier this year to complain about the vilification of Disability Support Pensioners in recent media stories.
"As you know, only 307 of the 800,000 DSP recipients were prosecuted for fraud last year, and the numbers losing payments as a result of medical reviews (most of which do not involve 'fraud') are not much higher," the groups said in their letter. They sought an assurance "the privacy of customers will be protected by Centrelink, that public humiliation of individuals is not part of the government's compliance strategy, and that the government will contest the vilification of disability pensioners as a group in media stories such as these".
Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said yesterday he could not comment in detail as he was unaware of the specific allegations against Centrelink, but as a government organisation, it was required to comply with the National Privacy Principles, which regulated the use of personal details. The principles would not apply if the agency "de-identified" someone by blurring a picture or removing any identifying information.
www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/centrelink-spy-videos-fed-to-media/story-fn59niix-1226102377650?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAustralianMediaNews+%28The+Australian+|+Media%29
