Modernising Business Registers Business Advisory Group key messages 28 April 2021

Welcome and introductions

Mary Arrowsmith opened the meeting as Chair

Action item update

BAG 35 – Open – Government, Digitalisation Activities timeline.

• Update – The comprehensive timeline will be presented to members at the June meeting or as an out of session paper for noting.

BAG 46 – Open – Director identification number (director ID) Application Channels

• Update – Future agenda item for meeting 8 June 2021

Program update

Karen McWilliams from Chartered Accountants Australian and New Zealand was formally welcomed as a new member in place of Susan Franks. The Chair thanked Susan for her valuable contribution.

Significant MBR Milestones:

• On 12 April 2021 Senator the Hon Jane Hume, Minister for Superannuation , Financial Services and the Digital Economy announced the appointment of The Commissioner of Taxation, Chris Jordan, as the Registrar of the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS).
• The Commissioner as Registrar will assist the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) with its registry business under delegation from ASIC.
• The Commissioner as Registrar is responsible for administering director ID and will assume responsibility for registry functions as the registers are migrated onto the new platform and continue to be responsible for administering the Australian Business Register (ABR) functions.
• The Registrar confirmed Deputy Commissioner Michelle Crosby as the Deputy Registrar of the ABRS.
• On 15 April 2021 ASIC registry staff moved from ASIC to the ATO.
• Private beta has commenced for director ID and we have issued the first director IDs on the new platform.

Several ‘tax agent experience’ focus groups have been held to help inform the agents model for the new ABRS. Feedback from participants is that they overwhelmingly supported the idea of consolidating agent functions in one location (refer action item 47).

Carolyn Godwin is the new Secretariat for the Modernising Business Registers Business Advisory Group (MBR BAG) meeting and can be contacted at MBREngagement@ato.gov.auThis link opens in a new window

Law and policy update

Treasury consultation on director ID Data Standards and Disclosure Frameworks instruments and accompanying explanatory statements closed on 1 April with 17 submissions received.

Submissions were mostly focussed on Data Standards with minor changes made to instruments prior to registration.

The data standards and disclosure frameworks will provide clarity around the administrative framework but remain flexible for administration and to accommodate emerging technologies.

• Some members noted they would like to see more certainty and detail but agreed there needs to be a balance to accommodate changes without amending the legislation.

The key themes from the feedback received during consultation will be shared with members (refer BAG 49).

Design themes including authentication, push notifications and updating details while ensuring the integrity of the information were discussed.

Key upcoming agenda items and forward plan timeline

MBR Engagement shared a four-month plan of the integrated view of the forward plan of topics to bring to future BAG meetings.

Members commented that the visibility of future topics and backlog was beneficial, however how do they know what is not on the table?

MBR Engagement is working with key program leads to keep the forward plan accurate.

Business inbox

Last week the ATO put out a request to tender for the core backend technology to provide the services for the Business Inbox.

The design team are seeking to understand from members how business want to receive correspondence from the register, noting the intent is to shift from paper to digital solutions.

Members wanted to ensure business get a better outcome than the myGov experience. It was noted the new business inbox is not suggesting replicating myGov but is seeking members input on how to develop a more contemporary service. Members were invited to share their myGov irritants (refer BAG 50).

Members design recommendations include:

• consider using a mobile app as an additional channel
• have the capability to set up personalised communication preferences, for example, forward to, get a notification any time, only notify me if no response, get notified by SMS, ability to select who receives notifications.

Director ID update

Director ID Communications

Now the Registrar has been appointed, we are using ato.gov.au/mbr as a holding page for information on the MBR program including director ID. This is a temporary solution until the ABRS website is publicly available.

Suggested holding lines for communications have been provided to members. The director ID team can help tailor communications for specific audiences. (refer BAG 52)

ATO contact centre scripting has been provided to ASIC, The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations and members may use this resource in their own enquiry areas.

We are starting to participate in external forums to raise awareness of director ID and reinforce the key message that directors do not need to do anything now.

Director ID private beta

We have commenced private beta and have issued three director IDs.

• The director ID application itself takes around 2-3 minutes to complete.
• The one-off proof of record ownership (PORO) process is taking some participants longer than expected to complete due to not having the necessary information on hand.
• We will use private beta to explore how we can use messaging to improve the PORO part of the experience.

Some members felt myGovID was the only proof of identity that would be required to apply for a director ID and that they were unaware of the PORO requirement.

It was noted by ATO that PORO has featured in material provided and discussed in previous forums.

Some members suggested exploring the use of voice authentication to streamline PORO like something similar that is used in single touch payroll. The director ID team will investigate further.

It was noted that the myGovID IP3 facial verification option would also streamline PORO, however this option is unlikely to be available when director ID goes live.

Other business

Members will be invited to attend an out of session working group in May 2021. Topics will include:

• deregistration of a company
• reinstatement of a company
• adding a director ID to a company record.