An Illawarra woman who defrauded Centrelink of almost $90,000 by failing to declare income from multiple jobs has narrowly avoided time behind bars.
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Susan Osborne, 45, was sentenced to a 12-month intensive corrections order in Wollongong Local Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to two counts of social security fraud spanning a six-year period.
Her lawyer, Patrick Schmidt, told the court Osborne had been experiencing significant trauma at the time of the offending including battling mental health issues and an addiction to gambling.
The court heard Osborne had intermittently claimed welfare since 1995 but began ripping off the system in 2013 after failing to tell Centrelink about two casual jobs she was working while receiving the single parenting payment.
Between May 2013 and December 2014, Osborne earned $65,261 but only declared an income of $15,034.
She received $27,229 in social security benefits during the same time period, but when her real wage was taken into account, it was revealed she should only have been paid $8,083 in benefits, resulting in an overpayment of $19,146.
The court heard Osborne began working casually for The Disability Trust in March 2014, before employed full-time in March 2015, two months after she was transferred onto the Newstart Allowance.
At the time of the transfer, Osborne falsely stated on her application that she was not currently working, had not been previously employed and was not earning an income from employment.
The court heard Osborne earned a total of $317,069 between January 2015 and June 2019 but failed to declare any of that income to Centrelink in her fortnightly declarations.
She was paid $69,325 in social security allowances during the same time period, but should only have received $1,749.
She was subsequently overpaid $67,575, bringing her total overpayment during the six years to $86,722.
In court on Thursday, Mr Schmidt said Osborne had already repaid about $16,000 of the debt.
He said she had actively taken steps towards her own rehabilitation and was unlikely to reoffend.
As part of the intensive corrections order, Osborne must continue seeing her doctors and getting treatment for her gambling addiction.
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