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