Once Centrelink has suspected a person has committed a Centrelink fraud, in conjunction with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), they may first invite the person for an interview or go to their house for investigation. Alternatively, they will launch an investigation into the matter without notice to the person.
If you have defrauded Centrelink, you may be charged under section 134.2 – obtaining a financial advantage by deception. If you are found guilty, the maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment. You may instead, or also, receive a fine between $10,000 and $100,000 and be made to repay the benefit to Centrelink.
If Centrelink suspect that you are claiming more social security benefits than you are entitled to they will investigate your situation. Centrelink may believe that you have not been honest with them because of routine data matching checks or due to getting a tip-off from a member of the public.
Centrelink do not normally tell you if they are investigating you. The initial phases of their investigation will be discreetly conducted by cross checking your financial information from your bank, ATO and even employer.
Bank interest reviews. We check your bank account information is up to date. We do this to check we paid you the right payment and amount in the past.
The easiest way to update your bank details is by using your Centrelink online account or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app. If you have a Veteran Gold Card, you'll need to call us on 132 300 to update your bank details.
Centrelink has very wide powers to thoroughly investigate deposits that have been made into your account. For example, it has the power to obtain your information from other government agencies as well as accessing information from banks, building societies and credit union accounts.
You can request a Statement of Debt for any 5 year period going back to 1998. You can make more than one request.
Centrelink can investigate your relationship status by conducting interviews or contacting various institutions. Centrelink may ask you or your partner to attend an interview to investigate your relationship status.
Calls really are recorded for “quality purposes”, and staff are expected to stick to procedures.
Centrelink will investigate if they suspect you have received unentitled payments. Once Centrelink decide to investigate, Centrelink can require your bank or employer to disclose your financial details relevant to Centrelink purposes. This process can take week to months.
We may select you at random to review your payment details. We may review your and your partner's details if you get one of the following payments: ABSTUDY. Age Pension.
“Centrelink has contracted optical surveillance services from 21 investigation agencies across Australia, to help them collect evidence of people suspected of serious welfare fraud,” Mr Anthony said.
Purchase a specific type of annuity
This is another fantastic idea to legally hide your assets from Centrelink, but in order to know what type of investment would work wonders for improving your Age Pension eligibility, you need to know which test affects you the most – Income Test or Asset Test.
We exchange data with Services Australia programs such as Centrelink and the Child Support Program, as well as other government agencies under separate legislative provisions, as detailed here.
We'll tell them in the claim if they can do this. If they can, you'll need to confirm your relationship status with us. We'll tell you when your partner has made a claim for you. If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov you can review the details they've given us and confirm your relationship status online.
Normally, you need to tell us within 14 days when you start a relationship or the change happens. When you claim a payment from us, we'll ask about your relationship status. This includes if you're single or a member of a couple. This helps us pay you the right amount.
We take all reports of suspected fraud seriously. Sometimes you may not see changes to someone's situation. The information you give us doesn't always result in a change in a person's payment or service. In some cases we may not take any further action.
Not reporting your full income – The ATO looks at your full income, which may include bank interest, dividends, trust distributions, and other sources. You need to account for all of your income on your tax return, not just your salary or wage. Fail to do so, and you could trigger an audit.
For your Special Benefit claim you must provide bank statements for the last 3 months for all accounts you have. This includes any overseas accounts. If you have a partner, we'll also require bank statements for all accounts held by them.
Many people believe Centrelink has access to your bank account and will take it into consideration for your payment rate. This isn't true. Centrelink can't access your bank accounts to determine up to date figures. They're basing your assessment on the last amount you gave them.
Typically, Centrelink will send you a letter every six months or so with their understanding of your assets and income clearly listed. If your current financial reality doesn't match Centrelink's understanding of it, it's your responsibility to correct your details.
There are limits to how much you can have. We call these the assets test limits. The Department of Social Services reviews these limits and cut off points in January, March, July and September each year. Your assets include any property or possessions you own in full, in part, or have an interest in.
Job seekers getting Youth Allowance
If you get Youth Allowance as a job seeker you can earn money and still get your payment. We'll start to reduce your payment if your income is more than $150 a fortnight. Your payment will reduce by 50 cents for each dollar of income you have between $150 and $250.