NESB Community Advisory Group Forum minutes - 8 December 2011

6. Update on work undertaken in 2011 - Jessica Billimoria

Jessica discussed the work undertaken in the ATO in 2011, in response to feedback received at last year's forums in Sydney and Melbourne.

1. Quality of translations of scripts
• A lot of effort has been put into getting scripts to radio presenters early so they have time to review the content with the hosts of the program.
• A new translation panel has been set up and is available to other government agencies as well, and also works to encourage consistency across governments.
• A 'Glossary of Terms' is being developed to ensure the consistency and accuracy of translated tax terms.
2. Supplementary information for information presented on radio shows
• More information is now available on the website - in 2009/2010, 39 documents were translated and published online, including information about the cash economy.
3. Cost-effective options for presenting tax information in audio-visual formats
• The ATO now has a presence on Youtube, which is a cost-effective way of communicating and reaching a large audience.
• 100 people, a video presentation which presents tax statistics in an interesting and innovative way has been translated into 3 languages.
4. Images used on tax posters
• The ATO is reviewing the images it uses for all NESB products.
• The ATO have consulted with the community to introduce new images on products for Indigenous audiences and plan to introduce new images for people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
5. Presenting messages on radio about why we pay tax and the importance of paying tax
• There are more radio scripts that encourage people to view taxes as community assets, which explain that taxes pay for better services for the community and which tell of the help that the ATO provided business during this year's natural disasters.
6. Business benchmarks
• Business benchmarks are being reviewed to more appropriately reflect the varying circumstances of businesses.
7. Education programs for international students
• The ATO is focusing on improving services for young people, in particular international students and are looking at ways to use universities to reach these students.
• The ATO was a sponsor of National Youth Week.
8. Translations of Tax in Australia - What you need to know brochure
• This brochure has been translated into 4 more languages: Nepali, Rundi. Tamil and Syriac, bringing the total number of translations to 24 languages.

Sections within Agenda items

• 1. Welcome and introductions - Thang Ngo
• 2. Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) - Ross Alatsas
• 3. ATO working in partnership with the NESB community - Tracey Nicholson
• 4. Centrelink joint initiatives with ATO - Sam Campisi
• 5. AMES: sharing feedback on the Tax in Australia DVD - Ramesh Kumar
• 6. Update on work undertaken in 2011 - Jessica Billimoria
• 7. DVD for new small business launch - Tracey Nicholson
• 8. Open Forum - your feedback and suggestions
• 9. Official thank you and close - Loc Trinh