Australian welfare body snoops casino records in crackdown
Updated
It has been revealed the Australian government's social security body, Centrelink, is using gambling records provided by a Sydney casino to dock welfare payments.
The Director of the Welfare Rights Centre in NSW, Maree O'Halloran, says says many aged and disability pensioners were shocked to find out that Star City casino was collecting all their information and sending it to centrelink under anti-money laundering laws.
Ms O'halloran says its unfair
"You walk in with a hundred dollars and you walk out with a hundred dollars, you might have gone up and down through the whole day but each time you go up, that's what centrelink counts as the income," she said.
"A spokeswoman for centrelink says they have acted acted on amounts between $AUS 100,000 and $4.5 million over the period 2005/2006.
australia, gambling, welfare
