Keeping a close eye on welfare cheats

PRIVATE investigators will continue to be used to catch welfare cheats in covert surveillance operations amid an ongoing Federal Government crackdown.

The “private inquiry agents” have been used to catch suspected fraudsters in almost 300 cases since 2012.

People claiming unemployment benefits while working cash jobs, committing identity fraud, faking illnesses or pretending to be single to claim more taxpayer money have been caught up in the stings.

It is part of an ongoing crackdown on welfare cheats as the Government attempts to claw back billions of dollars in falsely claimed or overpaid welfare.

A Department of Human Services spokesman said the program, which has cost taxpayers $380,250 since 2012-13, is being renewed for three to five years after the contract ends on December 31.

“Optical surveillance is only used where there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud or serious noncompliance, and after careful consideration of all

Optical surveillance is only used where there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud Department of Human Services spokesman

privacy and financial implications,” the spokesman said.

Physical surveillance, which can include video footage of suspected welfare cheats, was just one of the tools used to gather evidence to support potential criminal prosecutions.

The number of people needing to be trailed physically had shrunk dramatically because of improvements in online compliance checks.

Covert surveillance was used in just 20 cases last year, compared to 143 five years ago.

Improvements in datamatching and data analytics had enabled the department to spot and correct any compliance issues earlier, the DHS spokesman said.

The program used by Centrelink to match welfare data with Australian Taxation Office data, which led to the ‘robo-debt’ scare earlier this year, is one example.

More than 220,800 debt notices were sent out between July 2016 and January using the automated system.