Centrelink fraudster walks free

AN Ingham nursing assistant who illegally claimed more than $ 25,000 in Centrelink carer payments has avoided jail.

Mother- of- three Julie Kim Carroll, 49, pleaded guilty in Townsville Magistrates Court to two counts of Commonwealth fraud.

Crown prosecutor Chris Moore said Carroll was granted the carer payment to support her two sons, aged 20 and 23, who have autism and ADHD.

From December 2012 to January 2013 and then again from August 2013 to May 2015, Carroll worked as a nursing assistant but failed to declare any income to Centrelink.

Mr Moore said the fraud was uncovered when Centrelink did a data match with the Australian Taxation Office in March 2015.

Carroll received in total $ 40,241 in welfare payments when she was entitled to only $ 14,409 – bringing the cost of the fraud to $ 25,832.

Mr Moore said Carroll had repaid $ 13,548 and he sought restitution for the outstanding $ 12,284.

“Offences of this nature are serious, they’re easy to commit and they’re expensive for Centrelink to detect,” he said.

“The offences are prevalent and the social security system relies upon the honesty of recipients, because the imposition of a strict scheme of supervision and checking would be enormously expensive and would inevitably delay payments to genuine applicants.”

Defence solicitor Phil Rennick said Carroll lived in Ingham with her partner and commuted to Charters Towers for work as a nursing assistant, on average working six days a week.

He said she had two sons with disabilities and a daughter, aged 19. Carroll’s eldest son had three children and two stepchildren.

Mr Rennick tendered three character references from Ingham residents.

Magistrate Peter Smid said community service would be unworkable due to Carroll’s work and family commitments.

He said she had made an early plea of guilty.

Carroll was sentenced to nine months in jail, but released immediately on a $ 1000 good behaviour bond. She was ordered to pay the remaining $ 12,284 to the Commonwealth.