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Monday, 27 February 2012
Page: 947

Australian Taxation Office: Information Sharing

(Question No. 1468)

Senator Cormann asked the Minister representing the Treasurer, upon notice, on 14 November 2011:

(1)   What arrangements for information sharing between the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Office of the Child Support Registrar were in place from 2001 to the coming into law of the Tax Laws Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Act 2010 (the Act).

(2)   What is the nature of the information sharing arrangements in place between the ATO and the Office of the Child Support Registrar following the coming into law of the Act.

(3)   (a) Are the documents forming the information sharing arrangements:

      (i)   private or restricted access documents, and

      (ii)   able to be recovered under freedom of information; and

   (b) if access to the documents is restricted, on what basis is access restricted.

(4)   On what date was the first formal administrative arrangement put in place to allow authorised access to taxation information by the Office of Child Support Registrar.

Senator Wong: The Treasurer has provided the following answer to the senator's question:

(1) Following the Government's administrative arrangements order of October 1998, the Child Support Agency (CSA) was established as a separate entity from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and other agreements were put in place to support effective ongoing collaboration between the agencies to ensure legislative requirements are met on an ongoing basis. These agreements set out the protocols for the exchange of taxpayer information and facilitate compliance with the information-handling obligations of CSA and the ATO.

Information sharing arrangements were included in an agreement between CSA and the ATO which came into effect on 2 August 1999. Further, an MOU was signed on 30 June 2004, with the objective of formalising the links between the agencies in relation to information required to support CSA's assessment, collection and enforcement activities. On 6 September 2007, a head MOU between the agencies came into effect. A subsidiary arrangement under the head MOU for access by CSA to ATO information was signed on 19 November 2009. A revised version of the subsidiary arrangement came into effect on 25 November 2011.

(2) The information sharing arrangements between the ATO and CSA have not changed since the coming into law of the Tax Laws Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Act 2010. This Act consolidated the secrecy provisions that had previously existed in 18 taxation law Acts and placed them in Division 355 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953. The Act did not change the effect of the legal authority under which the ATO may disclose taxpayer information to the Child Support Registrar. ATO officers have remained able to disclose taxpayer information to the Child Support Registrar 'for the purpose of administering the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 or the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989' (item 7 in table 1 in subsection 355-65(2) of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953). The new taxation secrecy framework had no effect on the Child Support Registrar's information gathering powers under child support legislation. The Registrar continues to be able to exercise powers in the child support legislation to require the Commissioner to provide information about taxpayers, including tax file numbers.

(3) The MOU and subsidiary arrangements between the ATO and CSA have generally not been published. They may, like any document, be the subject of a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. The 19 November 2009 'Subsidiary Arrangement - Access to Tax Office Information' is now available to the public on the Parliament of Australia website.

(4) The first formal administrative arrangement put in place in relation to access to taxation information by CSA was the agreement relating to information sharing arrangements that came into effect on 2 August 1999. This administrative arrangement did not in itself allow access to information. It merely set in place administrative arrangements for carrying out activities involving both the ATO and CSA, including the disclosure of information as permitted or required by relevant taxation and child support laws.