$60 million saved in welfare fraud

Jo Goodhew announced:

Associate Minister for Social Development Jo Goodhew has welcomed news that since benefit fraud reform initiatives began two years ago, up to $60 million of taxpayers’ money has been saved.

“Over the past two and a half years around 9,500 benefits have been cancelled after fraudulent and illegitimate payments were discovered. These changes hold people to account for their actions, and make it difficult to defraud the welfare system,” Mrs Goodhew says.

A vast majority of the fraud has been identified through increased information sharing with Inland Revenue. This allows MSD to quickly identify if a client has under-declared their income – which can affect benefit payments.

An excellent use of data sharing.

Another one of the key initiatives is stricter monitoring of low-trust clients where they have previously committed fraud.

Also sensible.