NCJ Number
186570
Date Published
January 2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the prevalence of fraud in Australia and data collection methods for fraud, this paper recommends systemic and legal responses to fraud.
Abstract
The author defines fraud as "the use of dishonest or deceitful conduct in order to obtain some unjust advantage over someone else." The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates that fraud composes approximately 16 percent of the total annual cost of crime in Australia; and in 1996 this was estimated to be between $3 and $3.5 billion. Under current data-collection methods, however, this is only a guess. The systemic and legal responses to fraud suggested in this paper aim to reduce the supply of motivated fraud offenders, to protect and educate the high-risk targets, and to limit opportunities by making the crime more difficult to commit. In this paper, the description of the responses to fraud in Australia are limited to systemic and legal responses. Regarding systemic responses, organizations, whether public or private, should develop and refine an effective fraud control system. The basic elements of such a system are careful recruitment of staff, a culture of integrity and loss prevention within the organization, and regular auditing of transactions by internal controllers, backed by independent and accountable external auditors. Specific fraud prevention measures are suggested for corporate governance, the private sector, and the public sector. Regarding the legal responses to fraud, this paper discusses fraud reporting by victims, investigation and policing, trans-jurisdictional problems, court processes, legal problems in prosecuting fraud in Australia, and sentencing for fraud offenses in Australia. The author advises that the challenge for the years to come is in understanding how new forms of fraud are perpetrated and in ensuring that those charged with preventing and dealing with fraud have the intellectual and operational resources with which to do their work.