Western Australia Audit finds potential fraud in land sales by DevelopmentWA

Publisher
ABC
Date published
May 2025

Relevant impacts: Government Outcomes Impact, Financial Impact, Business Impact

A report by the Auditor-General of Western Australia found several instances where state-owned developer DevelopmentWA was unable to demonstrate value for money had been achieved in its sales of public lands. In one notable instance, a lot of land valued at $800,000 was sold for $385,000, with no formal rationale for the undervaluation documented.

The audit was sparked by the conviction of fraudster Paul Whyte for fraud committed during his time as head of the Department of Communities. Auditor-General Caroline Spencer, whilst unable to definitively state fraud had occurred, concluded, "Absolutely there could have been fraud within this period."

In her report, the Auditor-General noted serious shortcomings within DevelopmentWA with recordkeeping, documentation of decisions, and management of conflicts of interest. The report listed several recommendations, and the Auditor-General is monitoring implementation.

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Related fraudster personas

The Concealer

The Concealer hides their actions from being seen or known about to dishonestly gain personal benefits.
ICON 032: Concealer persona

The Exploiter

The Exploiter uses something for a wrongful purpose to dishonestly gain personal benefits.
ICON 031: Exploiter persona

Related countermeasures

Defined decision-making powers

Clearly document decision-makers using delegations, authorisations and instructions. Clearly defined decision-making powers increase transparency and reduce the opportunity for fraud and corruption.

Internal escalation procedures

Escalate non-standard requests or claims for further review or scrutiny. Non-standard requests or claims might include those that are late, do not meet normal conditions, include evidence that is difficult to verify (such as from overseas) or are for amounts that are higher than normal.

Public transparency

Publish information on your entity’s decision-making processes, decisions made, successful tenderers or grantees, incidents and breaches.

Reconcile records

Reconcile records to make sure that 2 sets of records (usually the balances of 2 accounts) match. Reconciling records and accounts can detect if something is different from what is standard, normal, or expected, which may indicate fraud.

Audits or reviews

Internal or external audits or reviews evaluate the process, purpose and outcome of activities. Clients, public officials or contractors can take advantage of weaknesses in government programs and systems to commit fraud, act corruptly, and avoid exposure.

Audit logging

Audit logging is system-generated audit trails of staff, client or third-party interactions that help with fraud investigations.

Document capture and storage

Capture documents and other evidence for requests, claims and activities to detect, analyse, investigate and disrupt fraudulent activity.

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