Five people have been charged with fraud-related offences after a major nationwide investigation uncovered alleged fraudulent claims worth about $235 million across Australian Government payments and programmes.
The Australian Government’s Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT) coordinated the operation, named Operation Integrity Fusion, which involved 26 search warrants across Adelaide, the Central Coast, Melbourne, rural Queensland and Sydney.
Investigators seized 44 digital devices and accessed 37 cloud-based accounts containing more than 28 terabytes of data during the searches.
Authorities also confiscated more than $120,000 in cash, $15,000 in silver bullion, $11,000 in gold coins and jewellery valued at approximately $60,000. Police also seized documents and other material relevant to ongoing investigations.
The investigation covers alleged fraud involving four Australian Government agencies: the Department of Education, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and Services Australia.
Across seven investigations, authorities identified approximately $235 million in actual and potential fraud.
It will be alleged that those charged unlawfully obtained personal or government-held information and used it to claim government-funded rebates and benefits for services that were either not provided or only partially delivered.
The three-month period of operational activity was coordinated through the whole-of-government Financial Crime and Money Laundering Working Group.
The operation involved 108 police officers and 156 personnel from the Department of Education, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, NDIA, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and Services Australia. NSW Police, Queensland Police, South Australia Police and Victoria Police also provided support.
Investigations remain ongoing, and authorities have not ruled out further arrests.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Stephen Raper said defrauding government agencies was an attempt to take money ultimately funded by taxpayers.
“Service providers are there to support Australians who need it, and while the majority do the right thing, there are groups in our country who selfishly rort the system for their own personal gain,” he said.
He said the taskforce was working with its partners to stop targeted fraud that took money from taxpayers and threatened Australia’s national security.
A Department of Education spokesperson said childcare subsidies were intended for families with a genuine need for childcare and that action against incorrect claims helped protect the integrity of the early childhood education and care sector.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs said funding for veterans’ health and wellbeing must not be exploited for personal gain, while the NDIA said protecting NDIS funding was essential to ensuring participants received the support they relied on.
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Louise Glanville said providers seeking to exploit scheme funding should expect strong regulatory scrutiny.
“Fraud undermines the integrity of the NDIS and diverts funding away from its intended purpose,” she said, adding that the Commission would continue to identify and respond to serious provider misconduct.
Services Australia said the taskforce was also disrupting attempts to steal personal information and access people’s myGov accounts to commit fraud.
The agency said the operation demonstrated the importance of cooperation between government agencies in identifying serious offending and protecting social security payments.
Authorities have urged anyone with information about suspected childcare subsidy fraud to report it through the Department of Education’s online Child Care Subsidy tip-off form.
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