According to the Herald Sun, data show that Melbourne`s western part of Werribee is Australia`s welfare fraud capital, and a new crackdown on welfare fraud will take place here.
Staff of the Australian Federal Police Department and fraud investigators as well as social services staff will come to Werribee, this week to identify the welfare scammers.
Starting Tuesday, the staff will be based at Werribee and Sunshine Centrelinks and at the Pacific Werribee Shopping Center, while other staff will conduct audit investigations into their known welfare scammers.
This extensive Werribee-centric strike is also part of Operation Integrity. It has been three years since the Australian Federal Police Department and the DHS formed a joint operation team to implement the plan.
In 2015, a Werribee survey recovered nearly 11 million yuan from welfare fraudsters, accounting for more than 1/4 of Australia`s recovery benefits.
One of them lies about their employment history. The swindler was later charged, and they were found to have defrauded more than 95,000 yuan in benefits over a few years.
In another case, a person who falsely claimed to be a caregiver had received more than $45,000 in benefits in this way.
The agency`s director, Michael Keenan, said the new operation, which is also the 19th operation of the team, will target those who deliberately commit welfare fraud, not those who inadvertently make mistakes.
Keenan said authorities also called on local residents to report information about welfare frauds.
"informants are a very important source of information for investigators, and it is nothing new that people are deceived by their own family or neighbors. As long as there is evidence of a criminal act, we will refer the case to the public prosecutor`s office for further prosecution, possibly with a fine or imprisonment. During the week of the Werribee, members of the action team will also remind you that if there is any change in your personal circumstances, you should also inform the Centrelink, in time that this will also affect the delivery of benefits. "
A previous operation at Werribee recovered 10.8 million yuan from 2632 welfare fraudsters.
The Werribee unemployment rate is reported to be 10.1 percent, compared with 6.9 percent across Australia. Nearly half of the working-age people here are receiving some form of income support, less than 1/3 across Australia.
In 2016, the Werribee`s employed population was 17174, according to the data. Of these, 63% are full-time and 35% are part-time. Werribee`s total registered population is 40345, which means that in 2016, only 42.57 percent of the population was employed.
