Number of Parents prosecuted for fraud or making false statements in the last 12 months
Dear Department of Human Services,
We would respectfully request data on the following:
1. The number of payees prosecuted for fraud or making false statements by the Child Support Arm of the Department of Human Services over the last 12 months.
2. The number of payees prosecuted for fraud or making false statements by the Child Support Arm of the Department of Human Services over the last 12 months.
3. The number of actual referrals made by the Child Support Arm of the Department of Human Services to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions over the last 12 months.
4. The number of Employees of the Child Support Arm of the Department of Human Services referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions over the last 12 months.
5. The number of Employees of the Child Support Arm of the Department of Human Services found to have committed fraud or making false statements and subsequently disciplined as a result.
With respect, this data carries a high level of public interest to ensure the public are aware that the proper administration of a major Government Department is carried out and to ensure the spirit of the law is observed in that it acts as a deterrent for members of the public for committing crimes.
Yours faithfully,
Keith Owen
On behalf of the group: "Child Support Australia - Time for Reform and Fairness".
Dear Mr Owen,
Please find attached correspondence regarding your recent Freedom of
Information request.
Kind regards,
Charlotte
FOI Legal Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
[1][email address]
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Dear Mr Owen,
Please find attached correspondence relating to your Freedom of
Information request.
Kind regards
Charlotte
FOI Legal Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
[1][email address]
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Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,
Thank-you for your correspondence.
with regard to your request to clarify:
1. I submit that the period for ALL of the information I seek should be for the preceding 12 months only.
2. With respect to employees being charged with fraud or making false statement offences: The Child Support Legislation provides for two main offences with respect to the administration of the Legislation. Fraud with respect to payments, and making false statements with respect to providing information to the Department of Human Services.
As a result of your request to seek clarification, it is obvious that no employees are ever charged with these offences with respect to the proper administration of the Child Support Legislation. However i would like to revise my request to the items you have identified and request to know "how many instances of the misconduct and criminal offences were identified by the Department of Human Services over the preceding 12 months?" and "how many of those offences identified were referred to the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions for the purpose of a prosecution against these employees/ex-employees - for the specific instances you identify in your correspondence?".
Thank-you for your valuable time.
Yours sincerely
Keith Owen
Yours sincerely,
Keith Owen
Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,
with regards to this request, I need to clarify for point 2 only. I need to revise the word from payee to payer.
Yours sincerely,
Keith Owen
Dear Mr Owen
I refer to your request, dated 23 April 2017 and received by the
Department of Human Services (the department) on the same day for access
to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
I have considered your communication dated 9 May 2017 and have revised the
original scope of your request based on what you have said. Can you please
confirm whether the below revised scope (changes in bold) adequately
reflects the documents you are seeking. If not, please amend the request
below and return to [1][email address].
1. The number of payees prosecuted for fraud or making false
statements by the Child Support Arm of the Department of Human Services
over the last 12 months.
2. The number of payers prosecuted for fraud or making false
statements by the Child Support Arm of the Department of Human Services
over the last 12 months.
3. The number of actual referrals made by the Child Support Arm of the
Department of Human Services to the Commonwealth Director of Public
Prosecutions over the last 12 months.
4. The number of Employees of the Child Support Arm of the Department
of Human Services referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public
Prosecutions over the last 12 months.
5. The number of Employees of the Child Support Arm of the Department
of Human Services who have been:
a. investigated for administrative fraud, payment fraud or for
unauthorised access/use of customer information, and have been disciplined
as a result, in the last 12 months.
b. how many of those employees identified have been referred to the
Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions, for the purpose of a
prosecution, in the last 12 months.
Please note, in your correspondence you refer to ‘misconduct and criminal
offences’. In reading your revised request as a whole, we have interpreted
this term to mean the behavious identified in our correspondence dated 9
May 2017, namely ‘administrative fraud, payment fraud or for unauthorised
access/use of customer information’. Please advise if this interpretation
is correct and, if not, provide clarification on which documents you are
requesting.
As I said in my letter dated 9 May 2017, the department does not process
FOI requests in part. Therefore, if you do not adequately revise your
request, a practical refusal reason will still apply, and your request
will be refused in full.
If you have any queries please email
[2][email address].
Regards,
Charlotte
FOI Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
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2. mailto:[email address]
Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,
Thank you for clarifying my request.
You have my request correct and I agree to how it has been re-worded.
Yours sincerely,
Keith Owen
Dear Mr Owen,
Further to our previous correspondence regarding the scope of your
request, I have identified a possible ambiguity in the below proposed
scope. To assist me to continue processing your request can you please
clarify that the information you are seeking at point 5(a) relates to
potential breaches of the APS Code of Conduct as identified in my
correspondence of 9 May 2017.
In relation to point 5 of the request, can you please confirm whether the
below scope accurately reflects the documents you are seeking:
‘5. The number of employees of the Child Support Arm of the Department of
Human Services who have been:
a. investigated for potential breaches of the Australian Public Service
Code of Conduct with respect to: administrative fraud, payment fraud
or for unauthorised access/use of customer information, and have been
disciplined as a result, in the last 12 months; and
b. how many of those employees identified have been referred to the
Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions, for the purpose of a
prosecution, in the last 12 months.
Please note the these code of conduct investigations only relate to
investigations for potential breaches of the Australian Public Service
Code of Conduct and are not criminal investigations.
Kind regards,
Charlotte
FOI Legal Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
[1][email address]
Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,
Thank-you for your letter seeking clarification.
The wording was actually that suggested in a previous letter, thus I find it difficult to imagine why this would require clarification.
Yes the request should be as per the wording detailed in your letter.
Yours sincerely,
Keith Owen
Dear Mr Owen,
Please find attached correspondence confirming the revised scope of your
request.
Kind regards,
Charlotte
FOI Legal Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
[1][email address]
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IMPORTANT: This e-mail is for the use of the intended recipient only and
may contain information that is confidential, commercially valuable and/or
subject to legal or parliamentary privilege. If you are not the intended
recipient you are notified that any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon,
this information is prohibited and may result in severe penalties. If you
have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately
and delete all electronic and hard copies of this transmission together
with any attachments. Please consider the environment before printing this
e-mail
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1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Owen,
Please find attached correspondence regarding your Freedom of Information
request.
Kind regards,
Charlotte
FOI Legal Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
[1][email address]
[2]Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: Description: Description: cid:image001.png@01CE26E6.4AB93B70
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IMPORTANT: This e-mail is for the use of the intended recipient only and
may contain information that is confidential, commercially valuable and/or
subject to legal or parliamentary privilege. If you are not the intended
recipient you are notified that any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon,
this information is prohibited and may result in severe penalties. If you
have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately
and delete all electronic and hard copies of this transmission together
with any attachments. Please consider the environment before printing this
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Keith Owen left an annotation ()
Sorry, request #2 should read "Payers" rather than "Payees"