A former federal public servant who forged 70 medical certificates in "an unusual form of fraud" has avoided time behind bars.
Jennifer London, 56, previously pleaded guilty to 50 counts of using a forged document for a public official to accept as genuine.
These charges were "rolled up" into one count in Queanbeyan Local Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Roger Clisdell sentenced London to an 18-month community correction order with 100 hours of community service.
She was also ordered to repay the federal government more than $6000 fraudulently obtained in paid leave.
Mr Clisdell said London's crimes were "an unusual form of fraudulent behaviour".
"Compared to most levels of Commonwealth fraud, [the amount] is relatively low," he said.
A prosecutor argued the dollar figure alone "doesn't capture the full extent of the offending".
They said London's "extensive unplanned absences" had an impact on her team and took advantage of her workplace's good faith.
An agreed statement of facts reveals London worked on the childcare service helpdesk at the former federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment during her more than five years of offending.
Between March 2016 and July 2021, she submitted 70 forged medical certificates to her supervisors, enabling her to access paid and unpaid leave.
Most of the forgeries, which purported to be from doctors at the Brindabella Family Practice, related to her own supposedly ill health.
Others enabled her to take carer's leave to look after her partner and daughter.
In reality, neither she nor her relatives attended the medical practice on the dates the certificates were said to have been issued.
London managed to access more than 1000 hours of paid and unpaid leave by using the false documents. This equated to about 26 weeks leave. The paid leave component cost taxpayers $6316.50.
The situation finally came to a head in May 2021, when a supervisor identified "a number of anomalies".
