The ACT Supreme Court heard prosecutors allege yesterday that former Centrelink worker Heather Lancelene Brown accessed her own files in the agency's database to ensure that the money continued to flow.

The 54-year-old, who has pleaded guilty to one count of financial advantage by deception, collected more than $7000 between 2002 and 2004 before her scheme unraveled.

Justice Hilary Penfold was told yesterday that Brown, who worked for Centrelink from 1990 until 2005, was caught after the agency's fraud investigators launched an inquiry into the unlawful accessing of the files.

After identifying Brown as the source of the security breach, investigators found there was no record of the child in any register of births, deaths and marriages in any Australian jurisdiction.

Giving evidence at yesterday's sentencing hearing, the Conder woman said she was still battling her gambling addiction and felt guilt and remorse over her offence.

Commonwealth prosecutor Naomi Buick told the judge that Brown had visited her accountant in 2002, told him that she had a three-year-old child called Michael Mootsammy in her care and asked that documents claiming family tax benefits for the child be prepared and forwarded to Centrelink.

Brown will be sentenced next month.

For more on this story, see today's Canberra Times.