Online gambler James Matthew Dawkins had an average track record when it came to picking winners in sport, but there was one niche market where he was unbeatable.

For three years running, Dawkins, 38, picked the winner of the Australian of the Year award, pocketing $13,302 in successful wagers.

The construction project manager from Mount Martha, on the Mornington Peninsula, placed 48 successful bets on the awards between 2017 and 2019.

He picked Alan Mackay Sim, Michelle Simmons and joint winners Craig Challen and Richard Harris to take out the nation’s top honour.

On Thursday, the Dandenong Magistrates Court heard it was a winning streak that drew the attention of Australian betting companies, federal police and crime agencies.

An investigation revealed that Dawkins was being fed inside information from an old high school friend, Dale Tristan Young.

Young, an Australia Post worker from Mornington, was part of a select group who organised commemorative stamps of the winners.

Each year, about two weeks before the awards ceremony, Young would ring Dawkins, who would then place a flurry of bets on various accounts.

On Thursday, both men pleaded guilty to abuse of public office offences. The court was told neither man had been in trouble with the law before.

Lawyer Stephen Schembri, for Young, said his client’s offending was “stupid”, “irresponsible” and difficult to explain.

Mr Schembri said Young, 39, resigned from Australia Post after the scandal was uncovered.

“He’s no master criminal,” Mr Schembri said.

Dawkins’s lawyer, Andrew De Kretser, said his client was also “deeply remorseful”.

“It was juvenile, reckless, dumb, stupid. Clearly he should have known better,” he said.

Both men were supported in court by family members, and Dawkins received character references from past and current employers.

A Commonwealth prosecutor said the maximum penalty for the offending was 12 months’ jail or a fine of about $16,000.

However, on Thursday, the prospect of jail did not appear to be on the table, with both prosecutors and defence lawyers agreeing that a bond was a suitable penalty.

Magistrate Hugh Radford will sentence the men at a later date.

In a separate case earlier this year, the federal police charged a Sydney man with using insider information to win money on the Australian of the Year Awards.