Overall assessment of performance

Overall self-assessment rating: Good

As a regulator of the tax and superannuation systems in Australia, we have assessed our overall performance against the Regulator Performance Framework to be good.

This assessment is based on the outcomes of our metrics and the improvements made for each of the six key performance indicators (KPIs). We have assessed our performance to be good for each of the six KPIs. Details of our assessment are outlined in the individual KPI summaries.

Overall we achieved positive results for 14 of the 35 ATO-specific metrics with four showing a decline, six new metrics for 2018–19 and 11 based on activities (where trend in the metrics does not accurately reflect performance).

Following is a breakdown of our assessment for each KPI. Some metrics apply to more than one KPI, with results for these metrics included within the summary for all relevant KPIs.

KPI 1: Regulators do not unnecessarily impede the efficient operation of regulated entities

Assessment:	Good
Summary of metric results:	Improved or met performance target – 5 Stable – 0 Decline – 0 New metric for 2018–19 – 2 Activity-based (where trend does not reflect performance) – 1
Activity-based examples:	Support for the superannuation system Single Touch Payroll implementation Penalty Relief Initiative

KPI 2: Communication with regulated entities is clear, targeted and effective

Assessment:	Good
Summary of metric results:	Improved or met performance target – 2 Stable – 0 Decline – 2 New metric for 2018 – 2 Activity-based (where trend does not reflect performance) – 5
Activity-based examples:	Digital channel experience and outbound communications Communication of public advice and guidance Support for small business

KPI 3: Actions undertaken by regulators are proportionate to the regulatory risk being managed

Assessment:	Good
Summary of metric results:	Improved or met performance target – 2 Stable – 0 Decline – 0 New metric for 2018–19 – 0 Activity-based (where trend does not reflect performance) – 1
Activity-based examples:	Tax gap analysis Taskforce work to address tax avoidance Tailored one-to-one engagements to obtain justified trust

KPI 4: Compliance and monitoring approaches are streamlined and coordinated

Assessment:	Good
Summary of metric results:	Improved or met performance target – 3 Stable – 0 Decline – 1 New metric for 2018–19 – 0 Activity-based (where trend does not reflect performance) – 3
Activity-based examples:	Data acquisition and quality program Enterprise client profile and enterprise view of risk Automation and artificial intelligence

KPI 5: Regulators are open and transparent in their dealings with regulated entities

Assessment:	Good
Summary of metric results:	Improved or met performance target – 0 Stable – 0 Decline – 1 New metric for 2018–19 – 2 Activity-based (where trend does not reflect performance) – 0
Activity-based examples:	Independent dispute review for small business Clinics for taxpayers who cannot afford professional advice Independent Assurance of Settlements program

KPI 6: Regulators actively contribute to the continuous improvement of regulatory frameworks

Assessment:	Good
Summary of metric results:	Improved or met performance target – 2 Stable – 0 Decline – 0 New metric for 2018–19 – 0 Activity-based (where trend does not reflect performance) – 1
Activity-based examples:	Online services for tax and BAS agents Treasury partnership OECD participation

Progress regarding areas of improvement identified in our 2017–18 report is set out below:

Areas for improvement identified in 2017–18 report	Progress in 2018–19
To build trust and confidence in the tax and superannuation systems	Ongoing focus required: Many of our 2018–19 client perception results are based on new metrics, as we have developed new measurement of confidence in the ATO. However, where client perception results can be compared with previous years, we saw small declines in results for a number of survey questions. Globally, we have seen evidence of diminishing trust and confidence in institutions over recent years. This is an issue that will require significant ongoing focus and effort.
To be an integrated, streamlined and data driven organisation	Partially improved: Our 2018–19 performance results demonstrate improvements in some elements of our efficiency and our use of data, with other results remaining broadly stable.

In light of these factors and the results of our metrics, we consider that positive outcomes were achieved through 2018–19. As an organisation we:

• delivered on our government commitments, including through our funded taskforces on corporate tax avoidance, the black economy and financial crime
• published new tax gaps, moving away from audit liabilities to a more preventative and pre-emptive approach
• supported individuals to correctly claim work‑related expenses, with an estimated revenue impact of $560 million over the last two years
• streamlined processes through Single Touch Payroll, with its successful deployment resulting in over 300,000 employers reporting information for around 9.5 million individuals
• innovated with technology by releasing Online services for agents in public beta and partnering across government to launch the myGovID app
• supported our staff with technology improvements, including the delivery of bigger mailboxes, a new instant messenger and new desktop and laptop computers for over 15,000 staff.

While we’ve made progress in recent years, it is time to take our performance to the next level.

We’ve cut red tape, we’ve made our systems more user-friendly, we’ve made our web advice easier to understand, and we’ve made our call centres more responsive. We’re making things fairer so honest taxpayers, particularly small businesses, can thrive. In addition to these measures, we are also making internal changes to improve the system in operation.

This follows our reflection on feedback we’ve received, and identification of where we can do better. At the ATO, we put the taxpayer at the centre of our work, and as a regulator dedicated to fairness – in all its forms – we see our job as building a positive end-to-end client experience, particularly for small businesses.

That’s why, in August 2019, we announced a new program of work called Better as Usual.

Led by Jeremy Hirschhorn, our Second Commissioner of Client Engagement, Better as Usual includes four work programs that collectively will improve our clients’ experience with the tax system.

Firstly, we’re reviewing what we call the ‘pipeline’ – the series of interactions a client has with us that forms their whole-of-system experience. A taxpayer may see many faces of the ATO, and we know it is frustrating to feel you have to start again when dealing with a new area or different people. We’re committed to ensuring that every time a client deals with us, we understand the end-to-end experience they have with us: from lodgment to disputes and debt management; and perhaps most importantly to their lodgment again next year.

Secondly, we are looking to improve our quality feedback loops. In a number of objections or complaints there is a story; there is something that has gone a little bit off track rather than any purposeful recklessness. We know that by better understanding and documenting our past experience we can make better decisions in the future. We have to better distinguish between things getting off track and reckless indifference or blatant evasion.

Thirdly, we have created a dedicated team to work on our most complex cases. They are able to devote the time and the resources necessary to deal with those prickly and complicated affairs that fall outside our normal processes, so that businesses just struggling to survive are treated with more empathy than those purposefully not doing the right thing.

Finally, we’re implementing a series of procedural and cultural safeguards to reduce and ultimately eliminate any cases where our mistakes could have a severe impact on the client.

While we are confident this work will drive improvements, we also know that constant improvement needs to be the norm, not the exception. That’s why we named this program Better as Usual: because we will be making these changes with an eye to the future and an understanding that we need to be making better as usual, business as usual.

This need for constant improvement to be the norm is why we will continue to focus on the same two issues when assessing improved outcomes in our 2019–20 self-assessment report, namely to:

• build trust and confidence in the tax and superannuation systems
• be an integrated, streamlined and data driven organisation.