Centrelink's big crackdown in this Aussie state
As the government hits back against dole bludgers, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) is starting its crackdown in the area with the most welfare cheats in the country.
Those cheating the systems in Werribee, a suburb in Melbourne’s southwest, can expect to see investigators when they next pay a visit to Centrelink, after it was identified as the country’s dole bludging hotspot.
Investigators from the AFP and Federal Department of Human Services (DHS) will be sent to the Werribee and Sunshine Centrelink offices.
Officers will also be located at Pacific Werribee Shopping Centre, so members of the public can provide tip-offs.
Human Services Minister Michael Keenan has encouraged the public to come forward if they know of someone who was cheating the welfare system.
“Tip-offs are an important source of information for investigators and it is not uncommon for fraudsters to be dobbed in by their own families or neighbours if they are doing the wrong thing,” he said in a statement.
This crackdown will see people with a history of cheating the welfare system, or those with suspicious activity on their case files, targeted for “snap audits”.
When Werribee was last investigated in 2015, it was found that almost $11 million worth of benefits were being taken by 2600 individuals who weren’t entitled to payments.
In the previous operation, 19 of these investigations were carried out across Australian and Werribee was found to have the highest number of dole bludgers.
“The dollar figure was the largest from a single site in the taskforce’s three-year history and represents more than one quarter of the $40 million in debts that have been raised from a total of 19 operations conducted right across Australia,” Mr Keenan said.
Mr Kennan said those who made a genuine mistake when receiving their benefits shouldn’t worry about the investigation.
“This operation is not about penalising people who make genuine errors. Its focus is on enforcing the law and targeting those who deliberately set out to commit welfare fraud,” Mr Keenan said.
The investigation is part of an ongoing joint operation between the AFP and DHS, which first started three years ago.