What started out as a plan to use insider information to place sure fire bets on the Australian of the Year awards has left two high school friends thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Mount Martha man James Dawkins and Dean Young from Mornington appeared in Dandenong Magistrate's Court on Thursday where they were both handed $4000 fines for their roles in a three-year award betting scandal.
Young had been working as a project co-ordinator at Australia Post, where stamps featuring Australian of the Year winners were printed before the awards were announced.
He divulged that confidential information to Dawkins who placed 48 bets worth $2469 using five online betting accounts, netting the pair $9363 in winnings.
The men, both 39, were arrested and charged in June 2023 after being caught by an Australian Federal Police (AFP) operation investigating irregular betting on the awards.
Investigators examined phone calls Young made to Dawkins hours after he was told the identities of the winners, despite signing a non-disclosure agreement.
In August, Young pleaded guilty to one charge of abuse of public office and Dawkins pleaded guilty to aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the abuse of public office.
In addition to the $4000 fines, the school mates had convictions recorded and were ordered to pay court costs.
Both men escaped harsher penalties which could have resulted in a maximum of five years imprisonment.
The misuse of confidential information for financial gain undermines public confidence in institutions and creates doubt about the legitimacy of important awards like the Australian of the Year, AFP Commander Matthew Gale said.
"The Australian people have a right to expect that public servants act with integrity and fairness at all times," he said.
Winners over the three years included biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim, quantum physicist Michelle Simmons and Thai cave rescuers Craig Challen and Richard Harris.
No Australian of the Year award winners were suspected or involved in any wrongdoing.
