What Does ‘Dishonestly Obtain Financial Advantage by Deception’ Mean in NSW?
“Dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception” in NSW describes the offence of fraud under section 192E of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). It means using deception to dishonestly obtain a financial benefit for yourself or anyone else, or to cause someone a financial disadvantage. The maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment.
If you have read that phrase off a court attendance notice, it is the wording of the charge rather than the name of a separate offence. Section 192E is headed simply “Fraud”. The wording on your notice describes which limb of the section the police say you have breached.
The Section 192E Offence in Full
Section 192E(1) provides that a person who, by any deception, dishonestly obtains property belonging to another, or obtains any financial advantage or causes any financial disadvantage, is guilty of the offence of fraud. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for 10 years.
The phrase people search for maps to the second limb: obtaining a financial advantage or causing a financial disadvantage. The first limb, obtaining property, is the same offence charged differently.
What the Prosecution Must Prove
The prosecution must prove every element beyond reasonable doubt. For a charge under the financial advantage limb, those elements are:
| Element | What it requires |
| Deception | Conduct that deceives, whether by words or conduct, as to fact or law, including as to intentions |
| Dishonesty | Dishonest according to the standards of ordinary people, and known by you to be dishonest by those standards |
| Obtaining a financial advantage or causing a financial disadvantage | An actual advantage obtained or disadvantage caused, for you or anyone else |
| Causation | The deception must be what produced the advantage or disadvantage |
If the prosecution cannot prove any one of these, the charge fails. That is not a technicality: proving every element beyond reasonable doubt is the burden the Crown carries in every criminal matter, and in fraud cases it is often where the case comes apart.
What “Dishonestly” Means in the Deception Offence
Dishonesty is not left to impression. Section 4B of the Crimes Act 1900 defines “dishonest” as dishonest according to the standards of ordinary people and known by the defendant to be dishonest according to the standards of ordinary people. That definition has two halves and both must be satisfied. Section 4B(2) makes dishonesty a matter for the trier of fact, meaning the magistrate or jury decides it.
The second half is where many fraud defences live. A person who genuinely believed they were entitled to the money, or genuinely believed the arrangement was authorised, may not have known their conduct was dishonest by ordinary standards.
What Counts as a Financial Advantage?
The section does not require you to have obtained the advantage for yourself. Obtaining a financial advantage for another person, or causing any person a financial disadvantage, is enough.
Two further provisions widen the offence:
- Section 192E(2): obtaining property belonging to another may be dishonest even if you are willing to pay for the property.
- Section 192E(3): you may be convicted of fraud involving all or part of a general deficiency in money or property, even where the deficiency is made up of many separate sums obtained over a period of time.
Section 192E(3) matters in workplace matters. It allows a prosecution to charge a course of conduct as a single general deficiency, rather than proving each individual transaction.
Where Is the Charge Heard?
Fraud under section 192E is a Table 1 offence. It is dealt with in the Local Court unless the prosecution or the defence elects to have it heard in the District Court.
| Court | Maximum penalty available |
| District Court | 10 years imprisonment, the full statutory maximum |
| Local Court | Capped by the Local Court’s jurisdictional limit, which is well below the statutory maximum |
Which court hears the matter is a strategic question, not an administrative one. The election affects the sentencing exposure, the process, and the cost. It is a decision to make with advice, not by default.
Fraud and Larceny Are Alternative Verdicts
Section 192E(4) provides that a conviction for fraud is an alternative verdict to a charge of larceny, or any offence that includes larceny, and vice versa.
In practice, this means a court that is not satisfied the elements of one offence are made out may still convict of the other. It closes off the argument that the prosecution simply picked the wrong charge.
Penalties and Realistic Outcomes
The 10 year maximum is reserved for the most serious cases, typically involving large sums, sophisticated planning, breach of trust, or a history of similar offending. It is a ceiling, not a starting point.
Sentencing depends on the amount involved, the sophistication of the deception, whether there was a breach of trust, whether restitution has been made, and your prior record. For lower value first-time matters, a court can find the offence proved without recording a conviction under a section 10 order, which for many people charged with fraud is the outcome that matters most.
What to Do if You Are Charged
Fraud matters are usually built on documents: bank records, accounting systems, emails, timesheets, invoices. That has consequences for how the defence runs.
- Do not explain yourself to police first. An account given without advice becomes evidence, and in a document-heavy case it can be tested against records you have not seen.
- Get the brief. The prosecution case is the documents. Until you know what they say, no sensible decision about plea can be made.
- Consider restitution early, but take advice first. Repayment can be relevant to sentence, though it is not an admission strategy to pursue without understanding its effect.
- Address the election. Whether the matter stays in the Local Court is a decision with real consequences.
Hughes Law defends fraud and white-collar crime matters, including allegations arising in employment. Where the allegation also involves property taken rather than obtained by deception, our property offences service covers the alternative charge.
Speak to a Fraud Lawyer
A fraud allegation puts your record, your employment and often your professional registration at risk. The elements are technical, the evidence is documentary, and the difference between a dishonest act and a mistaken one is exactly the ground on which these cases are won and lost. Belinda Hughes spent over 18 years in law enforcement, regulatory prosecutions and legal advisory roles before moving to defence, which means an informed view of how a fraud brief is assembled and where its weaknesses usually sit.