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06. Cooperation

Last updated 8 August 2021

We work with a broad range of external stakeholders to effectively manage and shape the tax and superannuation systems that support and fund services for Australians.

Our stakeholders provide input and feedback to improve the administration of the tax and superannuation systems and help us respond to changes in our operating environment. These relationships are built and maintained through consultation forums, established partnerships and memorandums of understanding.

Table 4: Cooperation

Our stakeholder relationships

Government

We work across government to ensure our administration is effective and to facilitate best practice APS approaches. We do this through multiple forums, with a focus on building a more agile and effective public service. We work productively with Treasury, providing insights to support the design of tax legislative measures and explanatory materials. We exchange data with other agencies to deliver improved services, and work with state and territory revenue offices to collect and administer particular taxes. We also collaborate with other regulatory and law enforcement agencies to build our capability, identify fraudulent behaviour and protect the community from criminal activity. We have a role in the Chief Operating Officers Committee, which reports to the Secretaries Board, supporting consistent delivery of government policies.

Scrutineers

Our relationships with scrutineers – who are appointed by government – foster transparency and underpin community and government confidence in our administration. The professional and cooperative relationships we have with the Australian National Audit Office, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner continuously improve our administration.

Industry and community

Our relationships with industry and the public we serve are paramount to achieving our purpose. We work with representatives across the community, business, tax, superannuation and financial sectors – to harness their specialist knowledge and experience through our stewardship, stakeholder relationship and special purpose working groups, social media interactions, surveys and other research activities. Our partnerships with digital service providers deliver fit-for-purpose services that enable intermediaries, businesses, superannuation funds and individuals to easily interact with us. We also liaise with third-party data providers, including banks, employers, online platforms and share registries, to collect information to support registration and reporting, identify fraud and recover debt.

International partnerships

We work with governments and organisations around the world to share best practice approaches and fight tax evasion and crime. We participate in:

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) networks, including
    • the Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) – to share new ideas to increase the fairness, efficiency and effectiveness of tax administration, reducing burdens and improving tax compliance and tax certainty
    • the Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) – to share experiences, resources and ideas on ways to more effectively deal with tax avoidance
     
  • the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) – to share intelligence and conduct joint operations to combat cybercrime, cryptocurrency fraud, and facilitators of offshore tax crime.
 

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