London: Britain and Australia have launched a first-of-its-kind partnership to help crack down on fraudsters, following a surge in organised criminals trying to exploit generous support schemes rushed out by governments during the pandemic.
Britain estimates it loses a whopping £33 billion ($58 billion) to fraud and public sector loss, which is more than it spends on policing and around 15 per cent of income tax collected.
Lucy Neville-Rolfe announces the new cooperation.Credit:Lucy Neville-Rolfe Twitter
This is the result of a surge in people with links to organised criminal gangs trying to exploit the vast sums of government support that was doled out during the pandemic lockdowns to assist businesses forced to close and employees unable to work.
In an address to the newly created Public Sector Fraud Authority, the cabinet office minister who is leading the UK’s crackdown Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, said that the organisation would transfer in Australians to help them with the job of clawing back some of those billions.
“We know that the difficult fraud challenges in the UK are not unique,” she said.
“Unfortunately international crime groups have no problems working across borders and there are additional risks that an increasingly digital economy brings, such as ransomware.
She said the new strategic partnership between the Authority and Australia’s leading public sector fraud-fighting organisation, the Australian Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre, would bring together the countries’ brightest minds in the field.
“Both our countries face similar threats – with criminal groups trying to undermine our public programmes – and we share common beliefs on the importance of fraud prevention, the use of data and analytics, and the need to build capability,” Neville-Rolfe said.
“Over the coming years, we will work together on a series of projects to develop new counter-fraud tools, deepen our understanding of public sector fraud and create world-leading standards.”
The UK’s strengths are in assessing the risk of fraud happening and using analytics to counter abuse, while Australia is better at developing guidance for best practice models.
The two countries believe that by pooling their resources and expertise they can make an exponential dent in countering fraud.
Initial secondments will be scaled up over time and rotated every six months.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said the new partnership was a strategic one and an upgrade on an existing program.
“Through this partnership experts from our two countries will work together to train those at the frontline in how to identify emerging threats and protect the public sector from fraud,” Dreyfus said.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the new cooperation will upgrade existing programs.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“Australia and the United Kingdom have a long history of cooperation to counter fraud.
“This partnership cements our commitment to work together to address shared challenges and uphold the integrity of government systems.
“Public sector fraud impacts the delivery of crucial services, reduces resources available to fund new programs, and undermines the public’s confidence in government.”
The development follows an agreement struck last week between the two countries to share more information on regulations to try and combat the financing of terrorism and money laundering.
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