Excerpt from the COMMONWEALTH FRAUD CONTROL GUIDELINES
4.4 Fraud against the Commonwealth may include (but is not limited to):
· theft · accounting fraud (false invoices, misappropriation etc)
· unlawful use of, or obtaining property, equipment, material or services
· causing a loss, or avoiding and/or creating a liability
· providing false or misleading information to the Commonwealth, or failing to provide it when there is an obligation to do so
· misuse of Commonwealth assets, equipment or facilities · making, or using false, forged or falsified documents, and
· wrongfully using Commonwealth information or intellectual property.
4.5 A benefit is not restricted to monetary or material benefits, and may be tangible or intangible, including the unauthorised provision of access to or disclosure of information. A benefit may also be obtained by a third party rather than, or in addition to, the perpetrator of the fraud.
4.6 Fraud against the Commonwealth takes many forms, and may target:
· revenue (e.g. income tax, GST fraud, customs duties)
· benefits (e.g. social security, health, child care, education/training, visa or grant of citizenship)
· property (e.g. cash, computers, other portable and attractive items, stationery) · information and intelligence (e.g. personal information or classified material)
· Commonwealth program funding and grants (e.g. education, childcare, employment)
· entitlements (e.g. expenses, leave, travel allowances, attendance records)
· facilities (e.g. unauthorised use of vehicles, information technology and telecommunication systems), and
· money or property held in trust or confiscated.
4.7 The risk of fraud can come from inside an agency, that is, from its employees or contractors. This is known as internal fraud. External fraud, on the other hand, is where the risk of fraud comes from outside the agency, that is, from external parties, such as clients, service providers or other members of the public.
4.8 Agencies also need to be alert to the risk of complex fraud involving collusion between agency employees and external parties. Complex fraud, which may also constitute corrupt conduct, can include instances where an employee or group of employees:
· are targeted and succumb to exploitation by external parties (bribery, extortion, grooming for favours or promises), or
· initiate the misconduct (including through infiltration of an agency by an external party).
Note that some forms of corrupt conduct, such as soliciting for bribes or secret commissions, may not cause a direct loss to the Commonwealth, but may distort the market for fair provision of services or inflate prices.
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