Keith Boardman, 39, of Sundown Drive, will undertake 150 hours of community service after being sentenced for dishonestly obtaining a benefit by deception.

Magistrate Catherine Follent also ruled that Boardman would pay back $15,000 in compensation for his crime and placed him on two-year community corrections order.

Submissions for the accused were made back in August when Mr Aguierre conceded his client's actions "were an enormous breach of trust".

But Mr Aguirre also said his client had come forward to actively assist police and, if he had not done so, the offence would never have come to light.

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Police facts tended to the court outlined that between March 2015 and June 2019, Boardman had dishonestly obtained $15,000, the property of the Artslet Social Club.

The facts said the accused had previously been employed at Telstra and in 2014 assumed the position of president of the workplace social club known as Artslet.

The club received fortnightly payments of $5 from each member which were deposited into a Reliance Credit Union Account. There were about 70 members at any given time paying into an account for which Boardman had sole responsibility .

Boardman's role was to organise and pay for various social functions as well as provide goods and services from the account, usually in the form of farewell gifts and food and drinks.

On June 11, Boardman attended Bathurst police station to confess to fraudulently misappropriating funds from the social club over five years.

After examining the financial records, investigators believed it was in the vicinity of $15,000 but an exact figure could not be ascertained as it replied heavily on incomplete and inaccurate records.

The accused said there had been no pattern to his offending and his illegal use of the funds was on a needs basis.

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Boardman's solicitor, Ms McIlveen, said during submission that Boardman was prepared to pay back $15,000, which was an indication of his remorse. She said it was an unfortunate incident on an otherwise "completely unblemished record".

In sentencing, Ms Follent said Boardman's offending behaviour was a significant breach of trust.

But Ms Follent also noted that his actions had been motivated by financial hardship and while that didn't excuse his behaviour, it did put it in context.

She said while Boardman was unlikely to reoffend the court must send a message that "this type of behaviour will not be tolerated".