Insights from a secondment to the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre
One of the Centre’s highlights for 2025 was the opportunity to host a secondee, David Whitehouse-Hayes, from the UK Public Sector Fraud Authority, to help develop a draft Fraud Prevention Savings Framework. We continue to receive such positive feedback about the quality of the draft framework and the important guidance it provides to help entities effectively estimate and quantify the impact and return on investment of fraud prevention activities. The final product will be published in the coming months, so stay tuned! If you haven’t seen the draft framework yet, email info@counterfraud.gov.au for a copy.
David has reflected on his 3 months in Australia – read more about his journey below.
My secondment to the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre built on the significant achievements of the 2 previous postings under the International Public Sector Fraud Forum Secondment program. As with my predecessors’ reflections, the experience was immensely rewarding – both professionally and personally.
Working in the centre of government, as I immediately noticed was true in Canberra as well as London, is ‘both a privilege and a responsibility’. Being in the middle of things gives you a chance to make a contribution that can deliver significant change. But it is intense, and you are usually dealing with 5 things at once.
The secondment meant whilst I was placed in the centre of the Commonwealth Government, working on a specific project, I had the bandwidth and capacity to work on something in detail and in a depth that would otherwise not be possible.
It allowed me to apply my subject matter expertise and experience in a way that would simply not be possible doing the ‘day-job’. Having the space to think and develop concepts that have been partially formed and have all-important time to take to their logical conclusion, is a truly remarkable opportunity.
It also allowed me to draw on expertise and experience from across the IPSFF and bring together peers and experts across counter-fraud disciplines to build a framework that can transform how we quantify prevention savings (a ‘massive leap forward’ OECD); being able to fully demonstrate the value of proactive counter-fraud activity and take our profession and function t the next level.
I was also inspired to be within the Australian Government during an election cycle and witness what a truly professional civil service they have, and what an embedded, healthy and celebrated democracy it is. To work with such driven, passionate and supportive colleagues, as at home, was inspiring and affirming.
On a personal level, to live and work in another country was the chance of a lifetime and allowed me time to step back from my day-to-day life in the UK, in a similar way to my professional life. To have such an opportunity for personal reflection and distance gave me new perspectives on myself and what I want to do with the last decade of my working life. This provided a clarity I don’t think I would otherwise have had.
Author:
David Whitehouse-Hayes
Public Sector Fraud Authority