Inside the dark past of mum-of-three domestic violence charity boss and her secret double life – as complaints flood in over her fundraising tactics

EXCLUSIVE 

The founder of a charity set up to help victims of domestic violence is a convicted and self-confessed fraudster who just three years ago was sentenced to home detention.

Mother-of-three Mel Kane, who runs Single Steps Tasmania, is facing mounting allegations over the way she operates the charity and has recently shut down its Facebook page.

The 42-year-old has previously been praised by state politicians, named as a finalist in the Tasmanian Volunteering Awards and feted by her hometown media.  

Kane does not appear to have publicly disclosed her fraud conviction and questions have been raised about how she distributes money and goods donated to Single Steps.

Social media users have accused the mother-of-three of advertising goods given to her charity for sale on sites including Facebook Marketplace.

In one Marketplace post, Kane offered a high chair for $20, prompting the donor to reply: ‘You got this off me for free, now you’re trying to sell it for $20. Lol ok then.’

Daily Mail Australia can now reveal Kane pleaded guilty on May 18, 2022 at Hobart Magistrates Court to obtaining financial advantage from the Commonwealth.

The offence was committed in Fremantle in Western Australia, between March 2016 and November 2018, when she defrauded Centrelink of $46,122.

She had originally been accused of ripping off taxpayers of more than $100,000.  

Kane was convicted under the name Melissa Maree Banks and sentenced to home detention for nine months, as well as being ordered to repay $38,871.26 to the Commonwealth. 

She subsequently sought to have the home detention order cancelled but that application was rejected by a Hobart magistrate on January 18, 2023.

Several sources have told Daily Mail Australia that Kane was seen at her sister’s wedding in November 2022 wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet.

The same sources said Kane had claimed police asked her to wear the device so they could track her whereabouts for her own safety due to some unspecified threat from a domestic violence offender.  

Kane launched Single Steps in January 2022 with the stated mission of helping Tasmanians leave abusive relationships. 

In one early media interview, the former shoe shop manager and sometime wedding photographer said she wanted to be ‘the first point of call’ for those experiencing domestic violence.

‘People hear domestic violence and automatically think it’s physical and only happens within a relationship,’ she told The Mercury newspaper.

‘Emotional, mental and financial abuse are just as common and abusers are not just partners – they’re parents, and employers.’

Kane said she had ‘an amazing committee’, including a nurse who could provide immediate medical assistance and two qualified counsellors.

Single Steps was registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) on August 17, 2023 with deductible gift recipient status.

It is exempt from paying income or fringe benefits tax and has GST concessions.

ACNC records show Single Steps Tasmania has not been required to lodge a financial report because of the charity’s small size and had not provided an annual information statement until this week.

Kane finally lodged her information statement for 2024 on Tuesday as online sleuths began raising concerns about the charity and circulating Single Steps bank statements. 

Those banking records, which purport to show deposits and withdrawals totalling thousands of dollars from a Single Steps account, have been provided to police.

A spokeswoman for Tasmania Police said the agency did not comment on whether someone was the subject of an investigation for legal and operational reasons.

Kane’s ACNC statement for Single Steps in 2024 recorded total revenue of $10,471 – all from donations and bequests – with $19,561 in expenses, for a deficit of $9,090.

Expenses were made up of $18,783 in grants and donations, as well as $778 in employee payments.

Some of Kane’s accusers say they have spotted goods they donated to her charity listed for sale on Facebook pages in her name or that of Single Steps.

One Facebook post by Single Steps Tasmania offered a cabin bed for $150 and received the reply: ‘I donated this.’

Kane responded to that claim with a request the apparent donor contact her rather than ‘downgrading the page to everyone else’.

‘We absolutely appreciate your donation but not everything works out the way it’s intended to in these situations and we would rather turn donations into things like grocery vouchers than have them sitting around not being used,’ she wrote.

‘If you donate items to anywhere like charity shops, it will usually get sold to put back to good use and sometimes that’s what we need to do also.

‘Not everything is perfect but we’re doing the best we can to help people with the funds we have or can acquire.’

Kane also advertised a bottle of Ariana Grande perfume for $20 on the Brighton Community Garage Sale page. 

‘Paid $59.95 but not really my kind of scent,’ she wrote. 

‘Barely any has been used so almost a full bottle. Pick up Chigwell.’

That post drew this response: ‘This was a perfume that my great aunt had donated to Single Steps. This and a bulk lot of women’s hygiene products.

‘I can’t believe this lady is selling an item that was donated this makes me so furious.’

Other social media users who had given money or goods to Single Steps were quick to express their alarm.

‘I gave this organisation a sizeable donation and hoping it went towards what it was supposed to go towards!!!’ one wrote.

But some Tasmanians defended Kane and Single Steps, saying the charity was doing good work.

‘I know of 2 families this organisation has helped in the north of Tasmania albeit with help of a few others,’ one said.

Daily Mail Australia has obtained correspondence between Kane and a woman who won a $250 handbag through Single Steps but did not receive the prize.

Two years later, Kane contacted the woman who had donated the handbag, stating the winner’s belongings, including the bag, had been destroyed by her ex-partner.

Kane said the winner had ‘loved’ the prize and asked the donor if she had any similar handbags because ‘I’m thinking of getting her another set to cheer her up’.

‘Finally got the nerve to leave him after 4 kids and 16 years of abuse,’ Kane said of the prize winner. 

‘So he did the typical narcissistic abuser thing and destroyed everything of hers that he could get his hands on. Piece of s***.’

The original donor offered to give the supposedly recent domestic violence victim another bag in person but Kane resisted that option.

‘I’m not sure she would be up for that yet lovely,’ she wrote. ‘She’s currently in emergency accommodation and her mental health is struggling.’

The donor then got in touch with the bag winner who said she had not lost the item due to domestic violence and was not living in emergency accommodation.

Kane claimed she had been confused and mixed-up the prize winner with another woman.

In recent days, Kane has responded to some of the social media accusations in a text message to an acquaintance.

‘I’ve seen a lawyer today and they recommended I don’t do or say anything on social media yet so I’ve just sat back and kept my mouth shut,’ she wrote.

‘And on the other side of it, I’ve got some health issues at the moment that I’m trying to deal with too.

‘And I honestly don’t have the energy for this… I’m exhausted by life. I’m done and want out. ‘

In May 2022, Kane was announced as a finalist in the community care and health volunteer category of the 2022 Tasmanian Volunteering Awards. 

‘Melissa is a single mother of three children and is passionate about helping others,’ her nomination stated.

‘She has made it her life mission to give domestic abuse survivors the support which she couldn’t access during her own abusive experiences.’

In June 2023, Kane estimated in another interview with The Mercury that Single Steps had supported 200 women in the previous year.

‘It started out as online support, giving direction on what organisations can give them, we’ve got a few counsellors on the committee so they can give them short term advice and a lawyer,’ Kane said.

‘It’s grown, we help source furniture, food, clothing, there’s not really a limit on who we help.’

At the time, Kane said donations to Single Steps had slowed due to the cost of living crisis and ‘we’re having to say no more often’ to those seeking help. 

Tasmanian Labor MPs Ella Haddad and Michelle O’Byrne met Kane at Parliament House in Hobart in September 2023.

‘We talked about the gaps in the system when it comes to family violence and the amazing work Single Steps do supporting people leaving relationships,’ Ms Haddad posted on Facebook, above a picture of Kane with the two MPs.

‘Have a look at their page, they rely entirely on donations, if you can help it would be very appreciated.’

Daily Mail Australia repeatedly attempted to contact Kane and sent her a long list of questions on Tuesday. A lawyer replied on her behalf on Friday night.

‘She categorically denies any wrongdoing in relation to Single Steps Tasmania,’ the lawyer said.