{
  "id": 14575034,
  "title": "COVID-19 grants paid to 9,000 ineligible Victorian businesses",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/covid-19-grants-paid-to-9-000-ineligible-victorian-businesses",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-15T00:30:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-15/vic-covid-business-grants-corruption-report/107268816"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "An investigation by Victoria's anti-corruption commission discovered that over $250 million in business support grants were erroneously distributed to 9,000 ineligible Victorian businesses. The report revealed that senior public servants withheld crucial information from the Victorian government minister responsible for the scheme. Opposition members argue this is further evidence of Labor's mismanagement of taxpayer funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nMore than $250 million in COVID-19 support was granted to businesses that were not eligible, according to the anti-corruption commission's probe. These businesses needed to be registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST) to qualify for the support. During the pandemic, billions of dollars in aid were given to companies as Melbourne faced multiple lockdowns.\n\nIn 2021-2022, public servants suspected that $285 million might have been paid to businesses that had backdated their GST to qualify for the payments. Instead of reporting the error, three public servants concealed the information from the minister for industry support, Martin Pakula.\n\nThe Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) concluded that approximately $257 million was paid to more than 9,000 ineligible businesses. While there was no evidence of political pressure to withhold information, the report found that self-censoring occurred due to concerns about angering the minister or reflecting poorly on the department.\n\nKenneth Pakula, the minister for industry support, advised the commission against interpreting the findings as evidence of Ministerial displeasure affecting public servants' willingness to provide truthful and comprehensive information. IBAC commissioner Victoria Elliott stated that the probe uncovered actions that violated the Victorian Public Sector code of conduct, professional obligations, and high integrity standards expected of public servants.\n\nDespite some officers speaking up, their superiors failed to act, leaving the government uninformed and unable to address the suspected significant loss of public funds promptly. The public servants who withheld information have not been named in the report. Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson stated that the report provides further evidence of Labor's mismanagement of taxpayer money during the pandemic.",
  "summary": "An IBAC investigation has found senior public officers failed to warn the minister that hundreds of millions of dollars in business support grants were being paid to ineligible businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}