During or following an emergency or disaster (including bushfires, cyclones, flooding or health emergencies), the Australian Government provides multiple forms of assistance in the form of Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payments.
In 2020-21, Services Australia delivered $230.1 billion in social support payments, including approximately $21.5 billion in disaster payments to people affected by COVID-19, floods, fires and cyclones.
Unfortunately, some people claimed payments when they weren’t affected by a disaster or emergency, or saw these payments as an opportunity for personal financial gain.
This guide provides financial indicators to help financial services businesses to detect and report potential fraud and misuse of taxpayer funds through Services Australia administered emergency and disaster payments.
Download: Financial crime guide – Preventing the exploitation of emergency and disaster support payments (PDF, 1.8 MB)
This guidance sets out how we interpret the Act, along with associated Rules and regulations. Australian courts are ultimately responsible for interpreting these laws and determining if any provisions of these laws are contravened.
The examples and scenarios in this guidance are meant to help explain our interpretation of these laws. They’re not exhaustive or meant to cover every possible scenario.
This guidance provides general information and isn't a substitute for legal advice. This guidance avoids legal language wherever possible and it might include generalisations about the application of the law. Some provisions of the law referred to have exceptions or important qualifications. In most cases your particular circumstances must be taken into account when determining how the law applies to you.