Grrr at my friend!!

[Visitor7]

To those that would never dob in a friend who broke the law ...
If they commit murder, you wouldn't dob, you'd wait for them to hand themselves in?
If they rob a bank, you wouldn't dob either?
Same thing here, the law is law. This is Fraud. This is against the law. End of story.
What is fraud?

Centrelink fraud is committed when a person knowingly gives false and misleading information to get a payment/s they should not be getting or do not tell Centrelink information they are obliged to tell us.
Fraud can be committed in a number of ways such as providing Centrelink with incorrect information either on forms completed, false statements, false identification or overall deliberately telling Centrelink the wrong information.

So if this friend is knowingly giving Centrelink false information to live in a life of luxury, then that is fraud. That is breaking the law.
I would never just sit back and wait for someone to hand themselves in if they broke the law. If I knew about it, then I have a right to take appropriate action.

[Janie71]

I have worked hard all my life and paid my taxes - taxes which are used to pay for such situations as mentioned. I have no problem at all with people who truly need these benefits claiming them - that is what we pay our taxes for. We look after each other (or at least we should) as we all have times when we need this extra help.

I'm afraid, however, that I have a real problem with people fraudulently obtaining benefits. But it is such a difficult situation to be in when the person committing the fraud is a friend. If they are a friend, then you should be able to sit down and let them know that what they are doing is illegal and not something that you agree with. I know for me if I did this and my friend still continued to commit the fraud, then I am afraid that they would no longer be someone that I would want to call friend. I would then have no problem at all in reporting them.

Good luck - I hope you find a solution that you feel happy with.

Janie xxx

[Just Me]

I agree that she has broken the law, but I also think there is a lot at stake here. I don't agree with what she is doing at all but I think that your friend deserves a chance to do the right thing. And to be honest, two of my brothers do drugs and I hate it, but I don't ring the police about it even though the law is the law. Some things are not helpful to the situation.

Your friends have a 5 month old baby and I don't think being caught up in fraud charges and having to go to court is helpful either. I think giving her a chance to be honest and sort it out for herself is the best option, but that is just my opinion . You could lose her as a friend by dobbing her in. I think it is awful what she is doing and I completely understand how you feel, but if you and her are offering each other some support raising your babies, you may miss that support more than you realise.

I don't think it will make any real difference whether you dob her in now or wait a couple of days. I think, like any decision, wait until you are feeling calm about the situation and decide what you think would be best then. Decisions made emotionally are sometimes ones that we come to regret down the line when we are feeling calm again (or at least that it the way it works for me). Also I would wait until I was calm to make sure that I was happy about my motives for dobbing her in. You have to have peace with the decision to dob her in because there could be a whole lot of consequences from your actions and I think you have to be prepared for that.

I have been very honest in my post and I hope that I haven't offended you by what I have said. I am not in any way trying to make you feel bad about dobbing her in, I just really want to encourage you to think about what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you might feel about the outcomes. I think you have to do what you believe is right, but in a way that you have peace with yourself about it.

Good luck, it is not an easy situation to be in