Welfare fraud this financial year has cost the taxpayer $31 million, with the number of cases rising 26 per cent on the previous year.
Social Welfare Department figures show there were 540 fraud cases from April 1 last year to January 31, compared with 430 in the whole of the 2003-04 financial year.
Overpayments this financial year total $31.02 million, up 12 per cent on the $27.7 million in 2003-04. It also is a steep increase from the $11 million recorded in 2001-02.
Of the 540 cases, police have followed up 83, while the department has issued warning letters in 444 more.
No action was taken on the remaining 13 cases because the applicant had died or suffered mental illness.
In 321 cases, recipients lied about their incomes, while a further 154 lied about the value of their assets.
Forty recipients made a fraudulent claim for rent and the remaining 25 concealed other information such as their family situation.
