Welfare cheats identified, government says

Thousands of welfare cheats are in the government's sights for lying about their incomes.

The department that manages Centrelink expects to recoup about $1.7 billion under a new budget measure that gives it added powers to detect fraud and recover debt.

That will come from 800,000 individuals getting Newstart, disability and age pensions, or the carers payment who have been identified for declaring a different income to the Australian Tax Office, Department of Human Services officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.