The Situation: RMO Law’s Criminal Law Team represented a young woman facing 5 charges of social security fraud involving a sum in excess of $17,000, as a result of failing to properly declare her income from work while also being the recipient of a Youth Allowance payment.

The court accepted that she was a young woman who was having issues managing her money and at times was destitute. She was living interstate away from her family at the time, and her only financial support was part-time work and the social security benefit she was receiving. She had been repaying the debt for some time but there was still a significant sum outstanding when the case was heard by the court.

The Result: A win for our client. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions argued that a sentence of imprisonment should be applied.

But taking all factors into account, including the mitigating factors, the court imposed a good behaviour bond together with an order for repayment of the outstanding amount.

As every case is different, the cases reported here cannot be taken as an indication of a similar outcome being likely in your case, and these reports are not to be taken as legal advice about your particular situation.