About ECI - The ATO Organisation Certification Authority (OCA)

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)	Life Span
Downloading	Organisation Certification Authority
Maintaining	Use of PKI by Government agencies
Revocation & re-issue

While Public Key Technology is used in many other parts of the world, it is relatively new to Australia. As such, access to accredited Certification Authority (CA) services was not available at the time the Tax Office initiated the development of the Electronic Commerce Interface (ECI).

However, around this time the government announced the Australian Business Number (ABN) initiative and assigned the administrative responsibility to the Tax Office. The Tax Office recognised the opportunity to leverage off the ABN registration process and establish itself as an accredited CA. The ATO Organisation Certification Authority (OCA) is an integral part of the ATO Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

At this stage the ATO OCA services are limited to issuing Keys and Certificates to the Public Officer or Authorised Individuals within an ABN registered business entity, where that business enterprise has elected or is obliged to deal with the Tax Office electronically using the ECI. Over time these services may be extended to other Tax Office internet based electronic services.