A Primbee welfare cheat has narrowly avoided time behind bars after defrauding Centrelink of almost $30,000 in two years.
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Kylie-May Madden, also known as Kylie-May McKinnon, lied to the government department about her fortnightly income on 62 occasions between March 2015 and July 2017 while receiving the single parenting payment and a Newstart allowance.
Madden repeatedly under-declared the income she received from her part-time job as a customer service officer for the Wollongong branch of international insurance firm Cunningham Lindsey, which averaged about $1,400 a fortnight.
As a result, Madden was paid $28,167 in welfare handouts she wasn't entitled to receive.
Magistrate Chris McRobert took pity on Madden in Wollongong Local Court this week and spared her full-jail time, instead sentencing her to a nine-month community-based intensive corrections order, which includes 100 hours of unpaid community service work.
He noted Madden had faced a number of difficulties in her life including a traumatic childhood.
"The court is very sympathetic to the hardships you have gone through in your life," he said.
"There's been much you have had to tolerate and for the most part, the people who have treated you very poorly have gone unpunished."
Agreed facts tendered to the court said Madden earned $42,164 between March 2015 and April 2016 but declared a fraction of that - $8,196 - to Centrelink.
She was paid $21,109 in benefits but should only have received $8,335, resulting in an ovepayment of $12,774.
Likewise, between May 2016 and July 2017, Madden earned $46,718 but only declared an income of $1,830.
She was paid $18,481 by the department but was legally entitled to only receive a fraction - $3,088 - of that figure. The overpayment was calculated at $15,393.
The Department of Human Services detected the irregularity following an internal review.
Madden was interviewed in February 2018 and told investigators she had thought she was "doing the right thing" and was being "overpaid by her employer".
She was subsequently charged with two counts of Centrelink fraud.
Madden had been due to fight the charges in a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday but pleaded guilty at the last minute after her legal team reached an agreement with Commonwealth prosecutors. As part of her sentence, Madden was ordered to repay the outstanding amount to Centrelink.
"It's in the interest of the community for you to return to work to repay the Commonwealth," Magistrate McRobert said.