Woman accused of defrauding state and Commonwealth flood relief funds

Relevant impacts: Human impact, Government outcomes impact, Environmental impact

Police allege a South Australian woman submitted false applications to the Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science in December 2022 and March 2023, seeking to defraud a joint Commonwealth and South Australian government measure. This measure was meant to help small businesses that had ‘experienced direct damage’ during the 2022–23 Murray flooding crisis pay for the costs of the clean-up.

The woman has been charged with one count of deception involving an amount of approximately $10,000 and one count of dishonest dealings with documents involving an amount over $6,500. Authorities are also assessing whether there have been other fraudulent applications.