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July 24th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Lawyers for a Victorian woman charged with defrauding Centrelink after she allegedly failed to declare her income will ask the High Court to clarify whether the government can change the law retrospectively.
Retrospective legislation passed by the federal parliament in 2011 made it illegal for a person on a pension or benefit not to tell Centrelink within 14 days of “anything” that “might” affect their entitlements.
The law is retrospective from March 20, 2000.
Victorian Legal Aid (VLA) has applied for a High Court hearing on behalf of Kelli Keating, who has been charged with welfare fraud because she received an overpayment of $6942 from Centrelink.
Centrelink alleges the overpayment resulted from her failure to declare her income.
VLA director of civil justice, access and equity Kristen Hilton said the retrospective legislation unfairly targeted people who had been overpaid by Centrelink.
“Overpayment is not the same as fraud,” she said.
“Many people who have been overpaid by Centrelink aren’t welfare cheats but have made a genuine mistake or have been the victim of a mistake by Centrelink.
“This retrospective legislation not only turns those mistakes into crimes, it makes something unlawful that wasn’t against the law when it happened.”
Ms Hilton said retrospective changes to the law undermine the fair operation of the legal and democratic system and should only be used in rare and serious circumstances.
VLA says it has approximately 50 pending cases similar to Ms Keating’s.
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