James Dawkins, 39, and 38-year-old Dean Young fronted Dandenong Magistrate's Court in Melbourne on Thursday after details of their plan came to light.
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.
Dawkins used information from Young's position as a Commonwealth employee at Australia Post to place dozens of bets on the awards between 2017 and 2019.
Congratulations Professor Alan-Mackay Sim on being named — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@a_palaszczuk) #ausoftheyear. A truly amazing Qlder doing important research. @ausoftheyear pic.twitter.com/NTUsXozHzZJanuary 25, 2017 Bets were allegedly placed on the winner of 2017 Australian of the Year, Alan Mackay-Sim.
Young, from Mornington on Melbourne's southern outskirts, provided that information.
At the time, he was working as a project coordinator at Australia Post, where stamps featuring Australian of the Year winners were being printed before the awards were announced.
Australian Federal Police alleged Dawkins, from nearby Mount Martha, received $13,302 from the bets.
In 2017 alone, the friends won $9363 from 20 bets while they made $2614 the following year and $1325 in 2019.
Winners over the three years included biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim, quantum physicist Michelle Simmons and Thai cave rescuers Craig Challen and Richard Harris.
Don't miss your chance to see Michelle Simmons: 2018 Australian of the Year in Conversation. National Museum of Australia on November 25. — AusoftheYearAwards (@ausoftheyear) https://t.co/1CTk0Oejdy @nma pic.twitter.com/wtBWSqWg9zNovember 20, 2018
The men's plan came undone when the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission reported betting irregularities in the 2022 Australian of the Year awards.
This involved examining phone calls Young made to Dawkins hours after he was told the identities of the winners despite previously signing a non-disclosure agreement.
Young's lawyer, Stephen Schembri, told the court he was "extremely remorseful" for his involvement in the bets but didn't provide a reason for the behaviour.
"He still cannot explain why he would act in such a stupid irresponsible way – he calls it the worst thing that he's ever done," he said.
"He's no master criminal clearly, neither is Mr Dawkins."
AFP Detective Superintendent Glenn Tod said authorities were committed to disrupting major financial crime based on inside information.
"The misuse of official or privileged information erodes public trust in our institutions," Det Supt Tod said.
"The consequences for those abusing positions of trust can be extremely serious."
The matter was adjourned for sentencing at a later date.
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