Case studies

A criminal group coerced a government employee to leak personal information in exchange for cash. The government employee obtained the information from a Department of Human Services' system and sent it by text message to alleged gang members. The criminal group then used the information to assume the identities of innocent people and commit further crimes. The employee pleaded guilty to participating in a criminal group, dealing in identification information and dishonestly receiving a benefit. She was sentenced to 32 months jail.

A Tasmanian woman lied about her marital status four times over the course of six years to receive $160,766 in Centrelink benefits to which she was not entitled. She stated she was a single mother when she was actually living with her partner who she married in 2011. The registered address she used was a bush block with no actual residence and the landlord did not exist. This investigation commenced after a tip off to Services Australia. The woman received 3 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges.

A Queensland woman dishonestly obtained $35,015.53 in single parenting payments over a period of 3 years and 8 months. She repeatedly made false declarations of the income she received from her employment to Centrelink, whilst in receipt of Parenting Payment, to intentionally misrepresent her true circumstances. The woman was sentenced to 6 months in prison and was ordered to repay Centrelink $31,318.53.

An Albury woman used her child care business to fraudulently claim the Special Child Care Benefit, which is meant to subsidise children from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds. On 80 occasions the woman forged documents to fraudulently claim $3,646,269.72 in child care benefits. The woman lied about when the children attended and the number of hours the children attended care. She also claimed a much higher hourly rate than the standard one charged. The woman was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

A researcher from the University of Queensland claimed to have undertaken research on treatment strategies for Parkinson’s Disease, however the research was never carried out and their research article was entirely fabricated. After learning about the fraud, a second academic chose to continue the fraud and apply for grants using the fraudulent research. The two were convicted and sentenced on 22 charges of fraud and attempted fraud. Both were sentenced to 2 years in prison. This was Australia's first criminal prosecution for research fraud.

A legal firm providing mental health advice made claims for services they did not provide. They also created a company in order to falsify medical reports to back their claims.

A US University allegedly failed to properly account for federal research funds that it received from the National Science Foundation.

A Queensland woman was charged for collecting her late mother’s pension for nearly 20 years which totalled $254,440. The woman’s mother had a separate bank account under a different name which continued to receive payments after her death. The woman regularly withdrew funds from this bank account and updated the address and contact details multiple times over a number of years. The woman was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months imprisonment.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) identified a company had been importing counterfeit condoms. The TGA proactively contacted customers who purchased the counterfeit condoms and organised a recall in addition to taking action against the supplier. The TGA’s response received positive media coverage and boosted public confidence in the TGA.

An Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) employee disclosed sensitive and unpublished ABS data which he obtained in his capacity as a Commonwealth official. This inside information was then used by an associate to conduct trades on the foreign exchange derivatives market. The pair knew that such information could make both of them large amounts of money. One man was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison and the other man was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison