CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Ms PLIBERSEK (Sydney—Minister for Social Services) (10:40): Earlier this month, well over 100 people joined Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino and me at the Redfern Town Hall for an anti-scam forum. The message from the day was very simple: scams can happen to anyone. Scams have become extraordinarily sophisticated.

What was once an obviously suspicious email, perhaps from a Nigerian prince, can now be a very professional-looking website, a fake video featuring someone you trust or a familiar voice generated using artificial intelligence. Criminals create urgency, build trust and sometimes spend weeks or even months convincing people that an investment or a relationship is genuine.

Scams often involve tricking people into authorising a payment. That can make recovering the money very difficult, because the transaction has been approved by the account holder. It's another reason to contact your bank as soon as you suspect something is wrong.

People who are scammed often feel embarrassed or ashamed. I've had constituents say this to me. They say this has stopped them asking for help, when acting quickly is critical.

But the fault lies entirely with the criminals who've deliberately deceived them. There should never be shame in seeking support. Assistant Treasurer Mulino spoke about the Albanese government's work to prevent and disrupt scams.

Scam losses remain too high, but they've fallen from around $3 billion a year when we came to government to just over $2 billion. Australia's response brings together banks, telecommunications companies and digital platforms, because they all have a responsibility to protect Australians from scams carried through their services. The forum also gave local residents direct access to organisations that could help.

Financial counsellors, community lawyers, government agencies, businesses and charities offered advice on scams, financial hardship, identity theft, fines and broader cost-of-living pressures. I thank the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Moneycare, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, Redfern Legal Centre, the Australian Taxation Office, Services Australia, Service NSW and ID Support NSW.

I also thank St Vincent de Paul, the Older Women's Network, OzHarvest, Foodbank, Work Skills Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, AGL, Optus and Google for taking part in this fantastic day. The experiences people shared show how convincing scams have become. Careful, capable people can be deceived, and no-one should believe that they're immune.

The message is: stop, check, protect. Stop before handing over money or personal information, check that the person or organisation you're dealing with is genuine, and protect yourself by acting quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank, report the scam, talk to someone you trust—the sooner you ask for help, the better.

I thank the Assistant Treasurer and all the organisations who so generously participated, and all of the local residents who turned up to inform themselves. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Payne ): In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.