Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

What we have seen is real action that has saved, for taxpayers, an estimated $421 million to date and a further $27 million in the savings from those measures already brought to law, with further expected as a result of the new measures we will bring about over coming months.

Just last week the District Court of New South Wales found a director of a family day care business called Aussie Giggles Family Day Care and Education Service, a Ms Melissa Jade Higgins, guilty of 66 counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, 14 counts of using a forged document and one count of dealing with money property believed to be the proceeds of crime. The director of this service received benefits exceeding $3.6 million to which she was not entitled. It is the result of a joint investigation between my department, the AFP, the Department of Human Services and the DPP. It comes on top of the work the AFP has undertaken, which has seen 15 individuals charged since July 2015 and 75 services suspended or cancelled as a result of our action to fix these problems. (Time expired)