19 Jul 2013

Questions about new welfare crackdown

5:27 am on 19 July 2013

Opposition parties are questioning the security of a new information-sharing system which has uncovered more than 3000 cases of beneficiaries who were wrongly receiving support.

The Ministry of Social Development and the Inland Revenue Department began the new way of sharing data at the start of the year as part of a move to crack down on welfare fraud.

Inland Revenue notifies the ministry whenever it spots beneficiaries who appear to be earning too much to qualify for support.

But the Green Party says the system unfairly targets beneficiaries and New Zealand First says the system must be 100% reliable to ensure there are no privacy breaches.