Budget 2022: $12.6 million to combat scams and online fraud

The Labor government has committed $12.6 million of its 2022 budget to combat scams and online fraud, with the bulk going towards a National Anti-Scam Centre.

Over the last few weeks we’ve seen an abundance of data breaches hitting large Australian companies such as Optus, Medibank and Telstra. While data breaches and hacks are nothing new, it has sparked fresh concern around data privacy and storage, scams and identity fraud.

Australia has seen a rise in online scams over the last few years, including malicious texts, emails and phone calls designed to trick people out of their personal and financial information.

These tend to spike during large data breaches and tumultuous periods such as COVID-19 and during Australian bush fire season.

The government says it will now commit $12.6 million over four years to both combat online scams and fraud, as well as protect Australians from “financial harm”.

Of the new funding, $9.9 million will go to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to establish a National Anti-Scam Centre.

Another $2 million will go to the Department of Home Affairs to expand its partnership with IDCARE, which will provide identity support services for victims of identity theft. This will include counselling and identity recovery.

Lastly, a casual $700,000 will be used by the Treasury to raise awareness around scams. This cost will be partially paid for by funding that already exists.

For some perspective, scams alone cost Australia over $2 billion in 2021.

Cyber safety is also addressed elsewhere in the budget with $6 million over three years for the rollout of digital literacy and online safety awareness programs for school kids. This will include eSmart Digital Licence+ and Media Literary Lab initiatives.

The budget also commits $31 million to the Australian Public Service cyber hubs pilot, with an aim to improve the cyber defence of government agencies. Four Cyber Hubs are being used “to deliver cyber security capabilities to Commonwealth entities.”