Welfare fraud taskforce to be established by Government with senior police officer to lead
Posted 9 minutes ago
PHOTO: A taskforce to crackdown on welfare fraud is to be established to target people who receive income support payments and have undeclared employment. (AAP)
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MAP: Australia
The Federal Government is set to announce a crackdown on welfare cheats by appointing a senior police officer to lead the attack on welfare fraud.
Human Services Minister Marise Payne said the Government is working with the Australian Federal Police to appoint an officer to lead a special taskforce.
The taskforce will target people who have undeclared income, with pensioners and people who receive the Newstart allowance and disability support to face income audits.
"This measure is targeting people who received an income support payment and have income that they have received through employment that they have not declared to the department," Ms Payne said.
Income support payments also include youth allowance, parenting payments, and the age pension.
Payments such as Family Tax Benefit and paid parental leave are not included.
"The department is bound by law to recover money where people have received more than they are entitled," Ms Payne said in a statement.
"This measure will allow the department to uncover overpayments, recoup debts and investigate deliberate welfare fraud.
"The amount of money recouped will vary from case-to-case. We anticipate our investigations may uncover undeclared income ranging from a few fortnights to several years.
"Individual cases may result in debts of between $1,000 and $50,000."
It is expected the measures will help the Government recoup more than $1 billion from inconsistencies in income tax payment summaries provided to the Australian Taxation Office and income declared to the Department of Human Services from the financial years between 2010 and 2014.
From other news sites:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-24/government-to-establish-welfare-fraud-taskforce/6492804
