By Penny Jorna

A new Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Trends and Issues Paper titled Fraud in the ‘outback’examines what is known as “the absence of capable guardianship” in influencing crime rates with regards to fraud in non-urban areas.

Guardians don’t have to be police officers or security guards -- they can be anyone whose presence or proximity would discourage a crime from occurring.

Thus a householder, a neighbour or co-worker could, simply by being present, serve as a guardian.

AIC considers capable guardians to be police, regulators, government agencies, businesses, community groups and individuals.

One area of concern relates to misuse of special subsidies that are available to public servants.

For example, the chief financial officer of the Pilbara Development Commission was investigated by the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia (CCCWA) in 2009 for using a government-issued credit card for personal expenses (CCCWA 2010).

While investigating these charges, it was discovered that the officer had abused a Home Ownership Scheme Grant – a government subsidy that had been created to encourage public servants to live in remote communities, which the offender knew she was ineligible for (‘Accused knew she was ineligible for subsidy’ The West Australian 25 May 2010).


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