The Data Matching Program is a program of computer matching of identity and income data held by relevant government agencies, including DVA, to detect incorrect payments in the income support system.

The legal authority for the data matching is contained in the Data-matching Program (Assistance and Tax) Act 1990 (Data-matching Act). The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner oversees the implementation of the Act through guidelines for the conduct of the Data Matching Program.

Section 12 of the Data-matching Act requires participating agencies to provide annual and three-yearly reports to Parliament on the operation of the program. DVA’s most recent three-yearly report was submitted in 2016, so this year’s report is a three-yearly report, focusing on the operation of the program within DVA for the financial years 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19.

For a full explanation of the progress of the Data Matching Program within DVA, this report should be read in conjunction with previous data-matching annual reports.

Overview

The Data Matching Program identifies cases where there is a risk of incorrect payment through:

• detection of invalid tax file numbers
• identity matching, which detects fictitious or assumed identities
• payment matching, which detects people who may be in receipt of incorrect or dual payments from the same or different agencies, where the receipt of one payment precludes or limits payment of the other
• income matching, which detects instances where the income information disclosed to DVA differs from the income declared to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

The ATO provides details of identity and tax data of people in receipt of income support payments for comparison with the details provided by the other agencies.

Data-matching investigations

This section provides a summary of how DVA acts on discrepancies identified through data matching.

Invalid tax file numbers

DVA actions all discrepancies found through detection of invalid tax file numbers by contacting the client and obtaining the correct number.

Identity matching

DVA actions all discrepancies found through identity matching by correcting administrative errors, investigating anomalies that may potentially be fraudulent or seeking the correct identity details from the client, and providing those details to the ATO so that the ATO can correct its records.

Payment matching

DVA runs payment matching in one data-matching cycle each year, solely to confirm the validity of the checks and balances conducted currently within the department.

Income matching

DVA runs income matching in every cycle. Income discrepancies are selected during this process for further investigation.

Deselection of cases

There are no exclusions from data matching within the department. However, deselection is applied to ensure that the same discrepant case is not picked up in more than one cycle each year.

Analysis

Discrepant cases are analysed before any investigation is undertaken to ensure the integrity of the data provided, to identify areas for improvement of selection and to ensure all data-matching business rules are applied.

Investigations

All investigations of discrepancies involve examination of the client’s DVA electronic records and then, if necessary, hard-copy records. Any administrative errors are corrected at this stage without the need to contact the client.

If the discrepancy remains after the initial checking, the client is sent correspondence in accordance with section 11 of the Data-matching Act, requesting further information and documentation to assist with the investigation. Clients are given 28 days under this Act to comply, then a further seven days based on the Evidence Act 1995.

In cases where the initial investigation has revealed potential fraud, the investigator may use section 11(4), where a section 11 letter is not sent as it may prejudice the effectiveness of an investigation into the possible commission of an offence.

Based on the information provided by the client, the payment rate is corrected and, where appropriate, overpayments are calculated, raised and recovered.

Further information may be obtained from Commonwealth, state or territory governments or private agencies to help ascertain the correct client details.

The client’s right to privacy is protected at all times by application of the Australian Privacy Principles (under the Privacy Act 1988), which govern the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information.

Actions under the Data-matching Act

This section contains information required by paragraphs 9(i) and 9(vi) of the Data-matching Program (Assistance and Tax) Guidelines.

Table E1 details the discrepancies in the past three years 2018–19 and the ensuing actions.

Table E1: Actions under the Data-matching Act, 2016–17 to 2018–19

Prosecutions

Reviews of entitlement by the department may bring to notice cases where an offence may have been committed under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, the Social Security Act 1990, the Criminal Code Act 1995 or the Crimes Act 1914.

DVA's role in the prosecution process is to investigate cases where it appears an offence may have been committed and to forward these cases, if warranted, to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) for a decision as to whether prosecution action should proceed. Depending on the type of investigation required, a case may be referred to the Australian Federal Police for further investigation.

Any suspected fraud cases detected are referred to DVA's Fraud Investigation Unit for an initial case assessment, prioritisation and further action, if appropriate.

Where sufficient evidence is obtained from an investigation, the Fraud Investigation Unit makes recommendations to senior management on the appropriateness of referring the matter to the CDPP.

Table E2 details the prosecutions prompted by the Data Matching Program in the past three years.

Table E2: Prosecutions prompted by the Data Matching Program, 2016–17 to 2018–19

Costs and benefits

This section contains information required by paragraph 9(i) of the Data-matching Program (Assistance and Tax) Guidelines.

DVA's involvement in the program has shown substantial savings can be gained through comparison of data held by different agencies.

Expenses

Table E3 sets out the costs to DVA of operating the program in the past three years.

Table E3: Costs to DVA of operating the program, 2016–17 to 2018–19

Projected savings

DVA calculates savings for clients whose payments are suspended, cancelled or reduced. For clients in receipt of a pension, it is assumed that they would have continued to receive the same rate of payment for 52 fortnights. These savings are in line with the methodology used by the Department of Human Services to calculate savings.

Tables E4 and E5 set out the pension adjustments resulting in projected savings; and the total savings achieved in the past three years. Table E6 shows savings achieved through the program in the past three years.

Table E4: Pension adjustments resulting in projected savings, 2016–17 to 2018–19

Table E5: Total savings achieved through the Data Matching Program, 2016–17 to 2018–19

Table E6: Cumulative savings achieved through the Data Matching Program, 2016–17 to 2018–19