A mother-of-four who defrauded thousands in Black Summer bushfire payments despite living 1000km away from the disaster has narrowly avoided jail time, blaming her past "ice" use for her behaviour.
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Jane Mary Stanton, 31, was living in Queensland when she lied about her home being in Basin View - saying it was covered in smoke and ash as the fires ravaged the South Coast - to claim $3400 in disaster payments in 2019.
Stanton, who now lives in Nowra, was sentenced at Wollongong Local Court on Thursday.
She pleaded guilty to three counts of producing false documents and two counts of using a forged document for a public official to accept as genuine and receiving financial advantage from the Commonwealth entity last year.
Tendered court documents revealed Stanton changed her address on her Centrelink account on January 12, 2020, indicating she moved from Eagleby, Queensland to John Street, Basin View in 2019.
That day, she lodged a claim for the federal disaster relief payment, claiming she had been adversely impacted by the bushfires on December 31.
Stanton told the Centrelink operator that she had just moved to the new address and signed her lease on December 28, 2019, adding that nearby fires blanketed her unit in ash, requiring her to replace curtains, bed linens and doonas.
She was deemed eligible and received $2200, however updated her claim a week later noting she had three dependants, gaining her an extra $1200.
Stanton came undone after compliance officers investigated the claims after speaking with the resident of the address she claimed she was living at.
The person was a lifelong resident and had never rented the property out.
Compliance officers also contacted Stanton's Queensland landlord, who provided a rental application and lease in Stanton's name from July 2019 to January 2020.
In court, defence lawyer Emel Ozer submitted Stanton was consuming ice and alcohol "very frequently" at the time of offending and attributed this to her fraudulent behaviour.
"The sentencing assessment report shows how remorseful and embarrassed she is," Ms Ozer said.
Ms Ozer added Stanton is now getting her life on track after enduring "significant trauma".
Magistrate Michael O'Brien lambasted Stanton's behaviour and reminded her the Commonwealth "is not an entity with unlimited resources".
"These funds come from working men and women, who through the sweat of their brow, pay a contribution to the community," he said.
"And without those contributions, we would live in an impoverished society."
Court documents revealed in 2020, Stanton also claimed more than $3000 in unwarranted rent assistance payments after submitting bogus rental certificates.
In total, she was ordered to pay back $6704.22 to the taxpayer last year, with Ms Ozer noting Stanton has $1936 to go.
In sentencing, Magistrate O'Brien spared Stanton time behind bars, but warned she was "skating on thin ice in a 40-degree heatwave".
Stanton was handed a three-year intensive correction order to be served in the community.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
