Fraud poses a real threat to our schemes, activities and the markets we're involved in. If you suspect someone is committing fraud against the CER, you should report it.
What is fraud and corruption?
The Australian Government defines fraud as 'dishonestly obtaining a benefit, or causing a loss, by deception or other means'.
If a person does something dishonest to get money, an object, power or information from us, they're committing fraud. Fraud can't be a mistake or an accident, it's done on purpose.
Corruption is when an employee, manager or contractor acts dishonestly and abuses their position of trust for their own personal gain or advantage.
Fraud or corruption might involve:
- providing false or misleading information in an application to us
- making a false entry into a registry
- offering or giving bribes
- inflating invoices for services, or invoicing for services not provided
- lying about qualifications or experience to get a job with us
- disclosing government information without authorisation
- manipulating a recruitment, procurement or grant process
- organisation officials illegally or secretly work together to deceive others or commit fraud.
Find out more about fraud in the Commonwealth Fraud and Corruption Control Framework.
How to report fraud
If you suspect fraud or corruption, you can report it using our online reporting tool.
You can also make a report by emailing referrals@cer.gov.au.
Information to include in your report
Where possible, your report should include:
- details of the suspected fraud or corruption
- the name, position and employer of each person involved
- the date(s) when, and where, it happened
- how and when you became aware of it, and if you did anything in response
- anyone else who knows about it and has allowed it to continue
- any supporting documentation and/or any witnesses
- your name and contact details, unless you want to be anonymous.
What happens after you report
We take all reports seriously. Our specialist officers assess every fraud report and investigate it when required.
If we assess fraud or corruption has occurred, we can take a range of action. The action we take will depend on how serious the offence is and how long it has continued. We also consider how we can protect the integrity and improve the outcomes of the schemes we administer.
Find out more about our compliance policy for education, monitoring and enforcement activities.
If we find evidence of criminal behaviour we may take further steps. We may refer cases to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. This may lead to criminal charges and jail.
If we suspect your report involves serious or systemic corruption involving a government official, we will refer it to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
In some cases we may not take any action or we might refer the report to another area for review. This could be because:
- there isn’t enough information in the report to identify the person involved
- an assessment has identified the matter is not fraud or is best dealt with by another process
- the report is considered vexatious or malicious
- the matter has been reported and investigated before.
We aren't able to give you any updates after you've made a report. For privacy reasons, we can't give out details about our investigations.
What we're doing to stop fraud
We take fraud seriously. We are committed to reducing fraud and corruption so we:
- have a plan to control fraud and corruption
- train our staff in ethics, privacy, security and fraud and corruption awareness
- have procedures for reporting fraud and corruption
- conduct internal audits
- conduct risk assessments to help us identify fraud and corruption risks
- have a system of controls
- monitor and investigate fraud and corruption
- seek civil, administrative or disciplinary penalties and sanctions where appropriate
- recover proceeds of fraud and corrupt activity
- report all fraud to government.