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03. Core priorities, performance measures and priority risks

Last updated 16 August 2022

The following pages set out our strategic objectives with aligned core priorities, performance measures and priority risks. Our key activities and management of risks ensure we achieve our strategic objectives, and our performance measures help us to know whether we are on-track and to refine our approach when needed.

Government

Strategic objectives

  • G1 We build community confidence by sustainably reducing the tax gap and providing assurance across the tax, superannuation and registry systems.
  • G2 We design for better tax, superannuation and registry systems to make it easy to comply and hard not to.

Core priorities

1.1 Tax assurance

Implement integrated prevention, detection and treatment strategies to assure and improve tax performance

1.2 Commitments to government

Deliver on government priorities, including through our funded taskforces, and our contribution to and implementation of new measures

1.3 Superannuation integrity

Provide integrity and assurance of the superannuation system, including through provision of services that support effective and secure transactions

1.4 Payment and debt recovery

Make payment easy, while implementing targeted approaches to improve the management and recovery of debts

1.5 Advocacy

Build strong relationships with key stakeholders to advocate for more effective and simple tax, superannuation and registries policy and administration

1.6 Effective public advice and guidance

Deliver effective public advice and guidance, including timely publication of ATO views on priority matters

1.7 Effective registry services

Deliver modernised business registry services and strengthen the integrity of registry data

1.8 Address fraud

Identify and treat fraud in the tax, superannuation and registry systems

Performance measures

Trust

Community trust in the ATO and the system

Registration

Proportion of companies and individuals registered in the system

Lodgment

Proportion of activity statements and income tax returns lodged on time

Payment

Proportion of liabilities paid on time by value

Tax gap

As a proportion of revenue

Debt

Ratio of collectable debt to net tax collections

Total revenue effects

Tax revenue from all compliance activities

Influence

Influence tax and superannuation system design through a mutually positive relationship with Treasury and the provision of quality advice

Tax assured

Proportion of the tax base where the ATO has justified trust that tax paid is correct based on the proportion of income, deductions and tax offsets assured(1)

Priority risks

  • Tax and superannuation performance in accordance with the law
  • Payment and debt performance
  • Influencing policy and law design

Client

Strategic objectives

  • C1 Our client experience and interactions are well designed, tailored, fair and transparent.
  • C2 We work with and through others to deliver efficient and effective tax, superannuation and registry systems.

Core priorities

2.1 Fairness and integrity

Enable trust and compliance through policy, sound law design and interpretation, as well as resolving disputes

2.2 Digital communications and self-service interactions

Continue to evolve digital interactions and where appropriate, reduce reliance on paper

2.3 Deliver tax time

Ensure continued delivery of tax time commitments

2.4 Partnerships

Nurture partnerships with the tax professional community, digital service providers, whole-of-government and international counterparts in coordinated approaches to support the integrity and streamlining of the tax, superannuation and registry systems

Performance measures

Compliance cost

Adjusted median cost to individual taxpayers of managing their tax affairs

Digital

Proportion of inbound transactions received digitally for key services

Digital

Proportion of outbound interactions issued digitally for key services

Service satisfaction

Client satisfaction with their recent interaction with us

Working together

Partner perceptions of how we are working together with them to administer the tax, superannuation and registry systems

Priority risks

  • Managing a complex superannuation ecosystem
  • End-to-end client service and case management

Workforce

Strategic objective

  • W1 We are a high-performing workforce with a focus on integrity, the right culture, capability and tools to deliver the best client and staff experience.

Core priorities

3.1 Shape our workforce

Create a diverse and dynamic workforce with the right leadership, culture, capability and staff experience to position us for the future

3.2 Integrity

Identify, prevent and respond to integrity threats in our workplace, through our integrity framework

Performance measures

Culture

Level of employee engagement

Staff experience

Employee perceptions around whether they have access to the tools and resources needed to perform well

Priority risks

  • Agile and sustainable resourcing
  • Standards and ethical conduct

Operational

Strategic objectives

  • O1 We use data, information and insights to deliver value for our clients and inform decision-making across everything we do.
  • O2 Our technology and digital services deliver a reliable and contemporary client experience.

Core priorities

4.1 Unlock data potential

Improve the way we collect, manage, share and use data, to build confidence and inform more effective and simpler tax policy and administration

4.2 Strengthen cybersecurity

Continue to strengthen our ability to monitor, detect and respond to cyberthreats

4.3 ATO systems resilience and improvements

Drive modernisation of our key systems and focus on resilience where it improves reliability and client experience

Performance measures

Tax returns

Proportion of pre-filled items accepted without change

Identity matching

Proportion of data items matched to client identifiers

Availability

Key digital systems availability

Priority risks

  • Managing cyberthreats
  • Contemporary technology
  • Maximising the value of data

Financial

Strategic objective

  • F1 We strive for operational excellence to achieve efficiency and quality outcomes.

Core priorities

5.1 Effective management of ATO resources

Ensure effective resource allocation, monitoring and reporting, demonstrating quality financial management aligned to organisational priorities

5.2 Value for money

Leverage our expertise to deliver value for money in our internal and external processes and relationships

Performance measure

Cost of collection

Cost to collect $100

Priority risk

  • Capacity and prioritisation
1 Additional indicator to the performance measures.

QC100380