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i have no idea what the OP was referring to, and don't really care - but seeing this discussion has been started and there are lots of comments about NOT tipping off when you think something is suss cos you're worried about how the reduction of income will impact them i ask you to keep something in mind
it is BETTER for them to have a reduction in benefits now and no resultant debt by doing the right thing, than to be caught out 18 months down the track, have the reduction in payment AND end up with a whopping great debt that they have to pay back, reducing their payments even further!
as an employee, i have, and will continue to, tip off when something is not right. it's part of my job, but it's also the right thing to to by the person i'm tipping off. they may not think it at the time, but ultimately NOT having debt, NOT being prosecuted for fraudulant behaviour - that's a whole lot better for them...
FWIW - ANY marriage like relationship means that you're no longer a "single parent" - it is NOTHING to do with paternity of the child/ren in your care - it's about your CURRENT situation. a marriage like relationship isn't simply defined by who is responsible for the children - there are a hell of a lot more criteria
if the circumstances are like those outlined by bjrose the couple is still in a marriage like relationship until either they no longer live in the same residence OR they can prove they are no longer living in a marriage like relationship. it does NOT just involve sexual relationship, there are many other factors - and the data matching systems in place, although slow, WILL catch up with people
i have personallly spoken to a "customer" recently released from prison for fraudulant activity on her centrelink record - she'd done her "time" but remained with a debt of over 100k - do you really want to let this happen to anyone?
WTF!!! thats like a mortage!!!! Id cry my eyes out if that was me
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I'd tell the authorities if I knew something was going on (not on gossip).
Why?
I don't work when I have a baby and pay taxes (OK so I currently don't but DH pays loads of tax) and struggle so you can defraud the system and have an easy life. I struggle and do the right thing. You have it easy and cheat. Taxes are too high without people pushing them up even further. We may have had our child tax credit calculated incorrectly after giving the correct information: if this is the case, we have to pay it back (and we rely on this money). But cheat and don't give the right information - we could have done this last year and be getting 5 times as much - then that's NOT RIGHT. Sure you may have to struggle but that doesn't mean it's OK to cheat.
And if you're going to cheat hundreds of thousands out the system then I'm pleased you have to pay it back.
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I don't know what the story is but if they are doing the wrong thing dob them in. If it causes them financial hardship so be it... they'll just be like all the other low paid honest aussie's out there that don't defraud the system. She can always go out and get a job. That's my opinion & I'm a working single mum who does it by the book & will continue to do so if I'm ever lucky enough to find someone worthy of living with.
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I hadn't thought about it like that!it is BETTER for them to have a reduction in benefits now and no resultant debt by doing the right thing, than to be caught out 18 months down the track, have the reduction in payment AND end up with a whopping great debt that they have to pay back, reducing their payments even further!
I would not dob anyone in.
I have lived on benefits (i defrauded no-one) and i know how desperate it can be. Even though i was desperate i didn't cheat, so by projection i assume anyone who does is MORE desperate than i was, which i cannot imagine. I would never add to stress of the life of someone by dobbing them in if they were already desperate enough to defraud.
I agree it would be better for them not to cheat, i agree that being in debt or in prison would be terrible, i would tell them so, but i don't like to think of the karma i would incur from doing that to someone. They may well get caught, but it will not be because of me. It isn't my job to keep someone out of jail, and it certainly doesn't thrill me to think i helped put them in there for something like this!
As someone who has been both on benefits and living in a comparatively wealthy blended family (DH earns enough that we pay in the 40% tax band) the difference between having to pay taxes and living on benefits is laughable. I do not smoke, or drink alcohol, or have expensive habits. My clothes are from primark or charity shops, i have bought 1 new pair of shoes since 2006. I would leave my kitchen window open rather than empty the bin because i couldn't afford more bin bags, i cleaned with salt because i couldn't afford household cleaners, i was practically vegetarian because i couldn't afford to buy non-mechanically-recovered meat products more than a few times a month. I remember acutely how real poverty feels and it's not our current steep tax bill, it's nothing but 3 fruit and veg vouchers in your purse, 3 new bills on your doormat, and 5 more days until your benefit comes in. I could cry thinking about how hard my life was back then, i was living on less a onth tan DH PAYS per month in tax. I could not consider making someone's life worse for no reason. I wouldn't cheat, but i wouldn't tell either.
Bx
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I never expected what I was saying to be popular - nor did I claim it was morally or ethically right. I always did it the right way and to be blunt, if someone wants to play with fire that way - its not up to me to be their nanny.
But chances are - if you have to dob someone in, then you probably are giving them a whopping great debt. It is practically ensuring they end up facing court and the worst possible outcome based on how long they have been doing it.
So you aren't saving them from themselves at all. Its not about the person lying - it never has been and it never will be.
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I don't know the story here but IMO it is AGAISNT THE LAW to claim payments you are not entitled to from Centrelink. If they are they deserve to be dobbed in.
I work with a Social Security Lawyer who tells me of some whopping stories about people who have defrauded Centrelink and have debts of many thousands - some of $200k. They are then charged and have to deal with the court system. For many of these people, they have no other criminal record, but the defrauding Centrelink charge is like a black smear across their lives - they face gaol terms and are in major trouble.
Meanwhile, if they were dobbed in much earlier when the debts were much smaller, Centrelink can dock their pay without placing criminal charges - so yes, dobbing them in can be good for them.
Don't know if I would do it though...
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
In the long run it's better for everyone, the size of the debt determines court action. You don't automatically go to court - but if its HUGE and obvious you will.
Inertia, I'm not sure why the responsibility shouldn't rest on the person defrauding the system - why not? There are warnings all over every possible letter you get, every one knows the risks - if they play with fire, they play with fire.
It's also about stopping the cycle of welfare too - there are entire extended families in which Clink is just a part of life, cheating is also normal. They are used to coming in each fortnight like its a social thing, working just NEVER seems to come into the equation and cheating is a natural part of it too. That's no good. EVER.
I've dealt with people (many many people actually) that totally lie, in one memorable case the young fella had earnt nearly $1000 one week, when I told him his dole payment wouldn't come through he screamed the house down and said well whats the effing point of working then?
If and when you do 'dob someone in' you actually need to know ALOT about the situation, full names, addresses etc etc etc.
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I'd dob them in as DH and I pay sh*tloads of tax and it really angers me when people who don't deserve the benefits get my taxes.
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:yeahthat:
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I wouldn't dob.
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I've been lurking in this thread and I've decided to put my 2 cents worth in...
At the end of the day you might think you know what they are doing in your own assumption but there is a very good chance your wrong.
My mum is on the pension (she is in her 60's) and after she and my dad separated 12 years ago she was on single parents for my brother.
Now as she is an older mother she had a lot of time to accumulate nice and expensive things before having kids and as she looks after things still looks really nice.
The amount of times people "dobbed" mum in for cheating when she was being completely kosher just because they made an incorrect assumption really makes me furious!!!!!
Noone know what happens in someone elses life unless you are a fly on the wall at all times...
I would mind my own and stay out of it personally - seems we all have enough crap in our own backyards to deal with - without shovelling everyone elses.
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