Where "Rort" Comes From
The word's history runs through Australia's first slang dictionary, convict James Hardy Vaux's 1812 "Vocabulary of the Flash Language," which recorded "to work" as underworld slang for committing fraud.
The old past tense of "work" was "wrought," and a fraudster became a "wroughter" — which slowly morphed into "rorter," giving us the verb "rort" (first recorded 1919) and the noun (1926).
The minister resigned after the grant rort was exposed in the press.
How Aussies Actually Use It
Used constantly in Australian political reporting for any misuse of public money or systems — a "travel rort," a "grants rort," a "branch-stacking rort."
Also works outside politics for any dodgy exploitation of a system, from tax loopholes to gaming the rules of a competition.
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