A former State Growth employee who illegally accessed the personal information of more than 1,100 motorists and sold it to debt collectors has avoided jail time.
Lauren Jane Heazlewood, 38, pleaded guilty to unauthorised computer access and fraud after spending four years mining the state’s motor registry system for private details she sold for nearly $50,000.
Between January 2016 and February 2020, Heazlewood worked as a case manager in the driver licensing section at State Growth, where her duties included using the motor registry system.
During that period, she regularly received emails from a man listing vehicle registration numbers.
Using her work computer, she looked up personal details of vehicle owners and sent the information back to him. He paid her by transferring money into her daughter’s bank account.
In total, Heazlewood received $48,093 for accessing the records of at least 1,126 people across Australia.
The man and his company later on-sold the information to the Australian Repossession Network, earning about $128,860.
In sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Estcourt described the offending as “a serious breach of trust, not dissimilar to a series of acts of embezzlement”.
However, he said Heazlewood’s personal circumstances – including documented mental health issues and financial stress – warranted leniency.
The court heard she had been introduced to the man during her employment and initially believed he was a legitimate customer.
“She claims did not appreciate the full criminality of what she was doing,” Justice Estcourt said, adding: “I have difficulty accepting that.”
However, he accepted “she is quite disgusted with herself, that she would do this and cannot believe what she did”.
Heazlewood, who has no prior convictions, pleaded guilty to all 262 counts on the indictment and offered to cooperate with authorities against the man, though no proceedings are currently underway against him.
Justice Estcourt sentenced her to 15 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years.
