Post by Banker on Dec 26, 2011 19:55:28 GMT 7
A CENTRELINK employee was sacked after accessing records belonging to customers and co-workers on 124 separate occasions, and misusing the agency's IT systems to benefit the people concerned.
The 26-year Centrelink veteran was terminated in early 2010, after an investigation into the many "unauthorised accesses” between January 2007 and January 2010.
The outcome is one of 14 cases of suspected breaches of the Australian Public Service code of conduct investigated by Centrelink over recent years; the heavily redacted findings have been published under Freedom of Information laws.
The staff member accessed one customer’s records on 61 occasions, and also a co-worker’s customer record on 61 occasions.
An investigation revealed that on three further occasions, unauthorised accesses to a former co-worker’s records resulted in alterations awarding benefits the individual was not entitled to receive.
The investigating professional standards officer dismissed the employee, saying "Centrelink takes these types of situations seriously".
Detecting and disciplining data snoops is a key priority for federal government agencies, with a number of high-profile data sensitive projects in train, including the merger of Medicare, Centrelink and Child Support and the creation of a national Healthcare Identifier database for the upcoming personally controlled e-health record system.
In the published sample cases, nine other Centrelink employees were found to be searching customer records of family members and acquaintances through the Income Support Information System or OnLine Search facility, incurring penalties of an average $50 to $100 per breach.
In two instances, staff members each breached records belonging to themselves and family members on 13 occasions.
One employee searched records belonging to his or her brother, sister, sister-in-law and brother-in-law “out of curiosity", and copped an $800 fine.
The second accessed his or her mother's and father's records over a three-month period, and tried to hide the unauthorised activity by providing "false or misleading information" to the privacy officer.
This employee received a 3 per cent pay cut over 12 months.
An employee who accessed records belonging to a mother, estranged father, a sister and sister’s partner on nine occasions was fined $500
Another who searched records relating to her ex-husband, ex-husband’s sister and her sister’s ex-husband eight times received a 5 per cent pay cut over six months.
A Centrelink officer who misused his or her position for personal gain through accessing records belonging to acquaintances six times was fined $500; another copped the same penalty for accessing family records in order to assess their eligibility for certain benefits.
In other instances, one employee was fined $400 for seven breaches; another was penalised $600 for four breaches, while one more was fined $200 for four breaches.
A serious breach of the code of conduct involving fraud resulted in the dismissal of one employee, and one suspected breach was dismissed.
The outcome of a third suspected breach is unknown, due to the heavily redacted material.
www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/centrelink-cracks-down-on-misconduct/story-fn4htb9o-1226221128140
The 26-year Centrelink veteran was terminated in early 2010, after an investigation into the many "unauthorised accesses” between January 2007 and January 2010.
The outcome is one of 14 cases of suspected breaches of the Australian Public Service code of conduct investigated by Centrelink over recent years; the heavily redacted findings have been published under Freedom of Information laws.
The staff member accessed one customer’s records on 61 occasions, and also a co-worker’s customer record on 61 occasions.
An investigation revealed that on three further occasions, unauthorised accesses to a former co-worker’s records resulted in alterations awarding benefits the individual was not entitled to receive.
The investigating professional standards officer dismissed the employee, saying "Centrelink takes these types of situations seriously".
Detecting and disciplining data snoops is a key priority for federal government agencies, with a number of high-profile data sensitive projects in train, including the merger of Medicare, Centrelink and Child Support and the creation of a national Healthcare Identifier database for the upcoming personally controlled e-health record system.
In the published sample cases, nine other Centrelink employees were found to be searching customer records of family members and acquaintances through the Income Support Information System or OnLine Search facility, incurring penalties of an average $50 to $100 per breach.
In two instances, staff members each breached records belonging to themselves and family members on 13 occasions.
One employee searched records belonging to his or her brother, sister, sister-in-law and brother-in-law “out of curiosity", and copped an $800 fine.
The second accessed his or her mother's and father's records over a three-month period, and tried to hide the unauthorised activity by providing "false or misleading information" to the privacy officer.
This employee received a 3 per cent pay cut over 12 months.
An employee who accessed records belonging to a mother, estranged father, a sister and sister’s partner on nine occasions was fined $500
Another who searched records relating to her ex-husband, ex-husband’s sister and her sister’s ex-husband eight times received a 5 per cent pay cut over six months.
A Centrelink officer who misused his or her position for personal gain through accessing records belonging to acquaintances six times was fined $500; another copped the same penalty for accessing family records in order to assess their eligibility for certain benefits.
In other instances, one employee was fined $400 for seven breaches; another was penalised $600 for four breaches, while one more was fined $200 for four breaches.
A serious breach of the code of conduct involving fraud resulted in the dismissal of one employee, and one suspected breach was dismissed.
The outcome of a third suspected breach is unknown, due to the heavily redacted material.
www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/centrelink-cracks-down-on-misconduct/story-fn4htb9o-1226221128140