DVA Fraud Investigations Into Veterans Disability Claims

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,

For each year from 2015 to 2021 inclusive I am seeking:

Number of current cases on hand at year end.
Number of cases referred to DPP and/or AFP.
Number of convictions.
Value of fraud recovered ($)

Yours faithfully,

Alan ASHMORE

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Ashmore

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:

               For each year from 2015 to 2021 inclusive I am seeking:

Number of current cases on hand at year end.

Number of cases referred to DPP and/or AFP.

Number of convictions.

Value of fraud recovered ($)

 

Your request was received by the department on 18 July 2022 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.

 

Extension of Time

 

Due to an increase in the number of information access applications
currently being received by the department, we are asking your agreement
to an extension of time for a further 30 days to process this request
under section 15AA of the FOI Act. This would mean that your request is
due on 16 September 2022.

 

If we are in a position to make a decision on your request earlier than
this date, we will endeavour to do so.

 

The statutory period may also be extended if we need to consult third
parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act. We will advise
you if this happens.

 

Please reply by return email if you agree to this extension of time. If
you do agree we will notify the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) of your agreement under section 15AA of the FOI Act.

 

Charges

 

The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your
request and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No
charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.

 

Your address

 

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[1][FOI #9151 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

 

Disclosure log

 

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

 

Further assistance

 

If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]

 

We look forward to receiving your response to our request for an extension
of time and for the removal of certain information as out of scope from
your request. 

 

Yours sincerely

Arthur

Position Number 62210944

Information Access Officer

Information Access Unit               

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Email: [3][email address]

 

[4]cid:image001.png@01D4D4DC.79DB5D20

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #9151 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[email address]

Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,

I reluctantly agree to this request and would appreciate it if the full 30 day extension wasn't fully required. Keep safe.

Yours sincerely,

Alan ASHMORE

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Ashmore,

 

Please find attached our decision regarding your request for information
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (ref: LEX 50869).

 

Kind regards,

 

Sara (Position Number 62214764)

Information Access Officer

Information Access Unit

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

e [1][email address]

 

[2]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

 

DVA is committed to suporting veterans and their families.

We all deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect.

We ask that you treat us the same way.

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Ashmore,

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the department) has received your
 request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:

              The information I am seeking is:

 

The percentage of high impact errors, (HIE), for the following period:

 

:  1 July 2021 to 30 September 2021.

:  1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021.

:  1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022, and

:  1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022.

 

For the following:

: MRCA Initial Liability Claims,

: DRCA Initial Liability Claims,

: MRCA Permanent Impairment, and

: DRCA Permanent Impairment.

 

I request that each of the above categories be further broken up to
include the following:

 

: Number of cases checked.

: Total number of work elements.

: Number of work elements with HIE, and

: HIE correctness rate.

 

Your request was received by the department on 6 September 2022 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.

 

Extension of Time

Due to an increase in the number of information access applications
currently being received by the department, we are asking your agreement
to an extension of time for a further 30 days to process this request
under section 15AA of the FOI Act. This would mean that your request is
due on 5 November 2022.

 

If we are in a position to make a decision on your request earlier than
this date, we will endeavour to do so.

 

The statutory period may also be extended if we need to consult third
parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act. We will advise
you if this happens.

 

Please reply by return email if you agree to this extension of time. If
you do agree we will notify the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) of your agreement under section 15AA of the FOI Act.

 

Charges

 

The Department will notify you within 14 days of an estimate of the
charges that will apply to your request for non-personal information
before we process any requested documents or impose a final charge.

 

Your address

 

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your email address is
[1][FOI #9151 email] Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

 

Disclosure log

 

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

 

Request to treat certain material as out of scope or irrelevant to the
request

 

To the extent the department has documents in its possession that fall
within the scope of your request, we intend to treat the following
information as out of scope or irrelevant to your request, pursuant to
section 22(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act:

1.       The surnames, signatures and direct contact details of non-SES
Commonwealth employees and contractors, including clinical staff working
for Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling; and

2.       The signatures of third party individuals.

If you agree to the department treating these details as irrelevant,
please advise by 20 September 2022.

 

Further assistance

 

If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]

We look forward to receiving your response to our request for an extension
of time and for the removal of certain information as out of scope from
your request. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Kevin Position No:   62210939

Registration Officer

Information Access Unit

Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #9151 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]