Brisbane, 7 March 2024

The defendant made a workers’ compensation claim in April 2020. The claim was accepted and the insurer commenced paying compensation to the defendant.

The defendant’s claim continued for about two years. She then commenced employment in medical imaging in April 2022 and didn’t inform the insurer. In June 2022, she told the insurer on two occasions she couldn't attend a medical appointment because of a sick child, when in fact she had been at work. She also said when warned her claim could be suspended for not participating in treatment that the insurer would be cutting off her “only source of income.”

Between April and September 2022, she earnt nearly $17,000 at her undisclosed job. When asked directly in September 2022 if she had another job on two occasions, she denied it.

At sentence, the Magistrate remarked that imprisonment would have been the only appropriate penalty due to the deliberate lies, benefit, and duration but for her psychological condition and the illness of her child at the time of the offending.