We recently reported that emerging technologies such as data analytics are a vital tool to help government tackle fraud and error, and recommended that government use data analytics to move from a system of detecting and recovering fraud, to one more focused on preventing fraud in the first place.84 The Department has not yet capitalised on the potential of data analytics and new technology to strengthen its counter-fraud response. The Department’s use of analytics remains limited and inconsistent, with most of the increased counter-fraud savings in 2024–25 coming from a one-off exercise to detect “commercial leakage”.85 The Department has conducted or commissioned several analytics initiatives, but it has not yet demonstrated that these produced significant savings or led to the introduction of preventative controls.86