Department of Home Affairs visa – October 2015 to 2022–23 financial years
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) visa data-matching program has been operating since 2009.
This protocol consolidates the existing visa data-matching programs:
- October 2015 to 2016–17 financial years program (gazetted 4 August 2015)
- 2017–18 to 2019–20 financial years program (gazetted 18 December 2017).
This protocol outlines our intention to continue collecting data on visas granted in the period 2020–21 to 2022–23 financial years.
For this program we collect information from the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs) on active and newly granted visas. The data is matched against our records to ensure visa holders, visa sponsors and migration agents are meeting their tax and superannuation obligations.
Visa data is made available to ATO compliance staff to support our risk profiling and trend analysis of the visa population, smarter use of data helps improve our decisions, services and voluntary compliance.
Visa data for 1 March 2020 to 28 March 2021 will be used to assist in confirming eligibility for the government's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) economic response, JobKeeper measure. The data will support pre-issue and post-issue compliance checks enabling us to follow-up potentially false or misleading declarations.
This data-matching program follows the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) Guidelines on data matching in Australian Government administrationExternal Link (2014). The guidelines assist Australian Government agencies to use data-matching as an administrative tool in a way that complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and are consistent with good privacy practice.
We have a responsibility to protect public revenue and to maintain community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems. Undertaking the Home Affairs visa data matching program will assist us in investigating and taking steps to mitigate fraud against public revenue.
Find out about:
Why we look at visa data
Travellers coming to Australia for travel, work, study or migration need a visa appropriate for their reason for travel. Visas include different conditions on a person's stay in Australia including engagement with the tax and superannuation systems.
The visa data-matching program will allow us to identify and address taxation risks in the population of visa holders, visa sponsors, and migration agents including:
- helping process tax file number (TFN) registration for visa holders entering the country including tailored advice for TFN applicants' employers
- ensuring appropriate taxation treatment is being applied by employers of visa holders including registration, lodgment, reporting and payment obligations for pay as you go (PAYG) withholding, fringe benefits tax and super guarantee
- determining if applicants departing Australia are entitled to access superannuation
- identifying taxpayers who incorrectly claim Australian residency in their income tax returns for financial gain
- identifying incorrect tax refunds through pre-issue compliance work
- identifying and cancelling Australian business numbers (ABNs) obtained and used inappropriately by visa holders as contractors, when they should be classified as employees
- assessing ABN eligibility
- understanding visa holders who are applying for an ABN and whether their visa class allows them to hold an ABN
- determining if an ABN should be cancelled as the ABN holder is no longer in the country
- ensuring individuals are correctly entitled to COVID-19 JobKeeper payments
- supporting Foreign Investment Program compliance activities including
- identifying people who are no longer foreign persons according to Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and using this data to update the Foreign Ownership of Land and Water Entitlements register
- identifying the foreign person status of property holders in Australia in regard to residential, commercial and agricultural land
- identifying temporary residents holding multiple established dwellings and temporary residents renting out an established dwelling
- monitoring temporary residents holding established dwellings to ensure disposal of their interest is within relevant timeframes
- ascertaining whether a foreign person has been onshore for 183 days or more to confirm their residentially occupied statement in their lodged vacancy fee returns.
Program objectives
The objectives of this data-matching program are to:
- promote voluntary compliance by communicating how we use external data to help encourage taxpayers to comply with their tax and super obligations
- continue to refine our understanding of the visa population tax and super risks across
- visa holders
- visa sponsors
- migration agents
- develop and implement treatment strategies to improve voluntary compliance; which may include educational or compliance activities as appropriate
- help ensure visa populations fulfil their registration, lodgment, correct reporting and payment of tax and super obligations
- test the accuracy and strengths of our existing risk detection models and treatment systems, and identify areas for improvement in our models, treatment systems and practices
- identify potentially new or emergent approaches to fraud and those entities controlling or exploiting the visa framework
- improve the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems by cancelling ineligible ABN holders
- support compliance activities under Australia's foreign investment rules
- identify and educate those individuals and businesses who may be failing to meet their registration or lodgment obligations and assist them to comply.
How we use the data
The visa data obtained from Home Affairs will be compared to our records as part of how we select taxpayers for compliance activities.
Our detection models allow us to identify candidates for administrative actions. This program will help to improve our existing risk detection models and treatment systems through the identification of entities controlling or exploiting potentially new or emergent approaches to fraud.
Our previous related programs
The continued collection of visa data will be used in risk detection models and treatment systems that have been effective in mitigating compliance risks.
Previous data matching programs have broadly achieved their stated goals, including:
- tailored advice letters to TFN applicants and to both employers and employees following submission of TFN declarations
- ABN verification program to identify temporary visa holders inappropriately obtaining an ABN as contractors, when they should be classified as employees
- pre-issue compliance verification to monitor registration, lodgment, correct reporting and payment of tax and super obligations under our refund integrity program.
Data provider
We are the matching agency and the sole user of the data obtained in the course of this data-matching program.
Data will be obtained from the Home Affairs as the sole data provider.
Our formal information gathering powers
The data will be obtained under our formal information gathering powers contained in section 353-10 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953.
This is a coercive power that obligates the data provider to provide the information requested. We will use the information for tax and super compliance purposes.
Privacy Act
Data will only be used within the limits prescribed by Australian Privacy Principle 6 (APP6) contained in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 and in particular:
- APP6.2(b) – the use of the information is required or authorised by an Australian law
- APP6.2(e) – the ATO reasonably believes that the use of the information is reasonably necessary for our enforcement-related activities.
Keeping data safe
The data-matching program will be conducted on our secure systems that comply with the requirements of the:
All ATO systems are strictly controlled according to Australian Government security standards for government ICT systems, with features including:
- system access controls and security groupings
- login identification codes and password protection
- full audit trails of data files and system accesses.
We will use our secure internet-based data transfer facility to obtain the data from the source entity.
Data elements collected
Data will be collected from Home Affairs between 2020–21and 2022–23 financial years for:
- base population cohort of active visas meeting the criteria
- address history for visa applicants and sponsors
- contact history for visa applicants and sponsors
- all visa grants
- visa grant status by point in time
- migration agents (visa application preparer who assisted or facilitated the processing of the visa)
- address history for migration agents
- contact history for migration agents
- all international travel movements undertaken by visa holders (arrivals and departures)
- sponsor details (457 visa)
- visa subclass name.
See also:
Number of records
The number of individuals affected by this data collection is expected to be approximately 10 million each financial year.
Data quality
We anticipate the data quality will be of a high standard based on our prior visa data matching.
Data will be transformed into a standardised format and validated to ensure it contains the required data elements before loading to our systems. We undertake program evaluations to measure effectiveness before determining whether to continue to collect future years of the data or to discontinue the program.
To assure data is fit for use and maintains integrity throughout the data-matching program, it is assessed against the 11 elements of the ATO data-quality framework:
- accuracy
- completeness
- consistency
- currency
- precision
- privacy
- reasonableness
- referential integrity
- timeliness
- uniqueness
- validity.
Data retention
The collection of data under this program includes October 2015 to 30 June 2023. The data collection is quarterly in February, May, August and November.
For the period between July 2020 and March 2021, the data for this program will be collected monthly to support the temporary COVID-19 JobKeeper measure.
The ATO was granted an exemption by the Privacy Commissioner to retain the data for three years for the prior two visa data-matching programs. The exemption request was required to satisfy the National Archives of Australia's General Disposal Authority 24 (GDA24) – Records relating to data matching exercises. GDA24 has now been revoked.
We destroy data that is no longer required, in accordance with the Archives Act 1983, the records authorities issued by the National Archives of Australia, both general and ATO-specific.
We will retain each new financial year’s data for five years from receipt of the final instalment of verified data files from the data provider. The data is required for this period for the protection of public revenue as:
- visas frequently cover periods longer than a single financial year
- taxpayers on occasion lodge tax returns and forms past the ordinary due date, particularly those visiting Australia and perhaps less familiar with our tax and superannuation systems. Without continued access to this data for the period outlined, we would experience challenges in verifying information to identify taxpayers who should be the subject of administrative activities
- the data enhances our ability to identify taxpayers who may not be complying with their tax and super obligations, which is integral to protecting the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems
- retaining data for five years supports our general compliance approach of reviewing an assessment within the standard period of review, which also aligns with the requirements for taxpayers to keep their records
- the data is also used in multiple risk models, including models that establish retrospective profiles over multiple years aligned with period of review.
While increased data-retention periods may increase the risk to privacy, we have a range of safeguards to appropriately manage and minimise this risk. Our systems and controls are designed to ensure the privacy and security of the data we manage.
Data dictionary
The data dictionary outlines detailed data elements collected.
01_ATO_ACTIVE_VISAS
Base population cohort of active visas meeting the criteria
Description
|
Field name
|
Person Identifier (PID)
|
PRSN_ID
|
Person Identifier (PID) Text
|
PRSN_ID_TX
|
Client Identifier
|
CLIENT_ID
|
Client Visa Subclass Code
|
VISA_SBCLS_CD
|
Client Visa Grant Number
|
VISA_GRANT_NR
|
02_ATO_MOVEMENTS
All international travel movements undertaken by visa holders (arrivals and departures)
Description
|
Field name
|
Client Visa Grant Number
|
VISA_GRANT_NUMBER
|
Movement Direction (Arrival or Departure)
|
MOVEMENT_DIRECTION
|
Movement Timestamp
|
MOVEMENT_TS
|
Person Identifier (PID)
|
PRSN_ID
|
Person Identifier (PID) Text
|
PRSN_ID_TX
|
Client Identifier
|
CLIENT_ID
|
Client Visa Subclass Code
|
VISA_SBCLS_CD
|
03_ATO_VISA_GRANTS
History of visas granted (active visas)
Description
|
Field name
|
Client Visa Grant Number
|
VISA_GRANT_NR
|
Person Identifier (PID)
|
PRSN_ID
|
Person Identifier (PID) Text
|
PRSN_ID_TX
|
Client Visa Subclass Code
|
VISA_SBCLS_CD
|
Visa subclass sub stream
|
VISA_STREAM_CD
|
Visa Grant Date
|
VISA_GRANT_DT
|
Country that issued the travel document
|
CITZ_CNTRY_CD
|
Client Travel Document Identifier
|
TRVL_DOC_ID
|
Visa Grant Entry Expiry Date
|
VISA_ENTRY_EXPRY_DT
|
Visa stay number of days allowed
|
VISA_STAY_DAYS_NR
|
Number of entries allowed (No Entry, Single Entry, Multiple Entry)
|
VISA_ENTRS_ALWD_CD
|
Client Birth Country
|
BIRTH_CNTRY_CD
|
Client Birth Date
|
BIRTH_DT
|
Client Family Name or Surname
|
FAMILY_NAME
|
Client First Given Name or First Given Initial
|
GIVEN_NAME
|
Client Applicant Type (Primary or Secondary)
|
APPLNT_TYPE_CD
|
Visa CASE Identifier
|
VA_CASE_ID
|
HA Source Processing System
|
SOURCE_SYSTEM
|
Condition 8501
|
CONDITION_8501_Cd
|
04_ATO_PERSON_VISA_STATUS
Person visa status at a point in time
Description
|
Field name
|
Person Identifier (PID)
|
PRSN_ID
|
Person Identifier (PID) Text
|
PRSN_ID_TX
|
Client Identifier
|
CLIENT_ID
|
Client Lawful Status (e.g. onshore – Lawful)
|
LAWFUL_STATUS_DS
|
Client Lawful Status snapshot date
|
LAWFUL_STATUS_DT
|
Client Visa Grant Number
|
VISA_GRANT_NR
|
Client Visa In Effect Until Date
|
VISA_IN_EFFECT_UNTIL_DT
|
Client Visa Subclass Code
|
VISA_SBCLS_CD
|
05_ATO_CLIENT_ADRS
Address history for visa applicants and sponsors
Description
|
Field name
|
Client Identifier
|
CLIENT_ID
|
Date of Effect From
|
ADDRESS_EF_DT
|
Date of Effect To
|
ADDRESS_ET_DT
|
Address Type (Residential, Postal, Business, Residential other, Postal other, Business other)
|
ADDRESS_TYPE_DS
|
Client First Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_LINE_1
|
Client Second Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_ LINE_2
|
Client Third Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_ LINE_3
|
Client Fourth Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_ LINE_4
|
The Suburb, Town or City of the Address
|
ADDRESS_LOCALITY
|
The State or Territory of the Address
|
ADDRESS_STATE
|
The Postcode of the Address
|
ADDRESS_POSTCODE
|
Country Code
|
ADDRESS_COUNTRY
|
06_ATO_CLIENT_CONTACT
Contact history for visa applicants and sponsors
Description
|
Field name
|
Client Identifier
|
CLIENT_ID
|
Date of Effect From
|
CONTACT_EF_DT
|
Date of Effect To
|
CONTACT_ET_DT
|
Contact Type (Residential, Postal, Business, Residential other, Postal other, Business other)
|
CONTACT_TYPE_DS
|
Contact Phone number
|
CONTACT_PHONE_NR
|
Fax number
|
CONTACT_FAX_NR
|
Email address
|
CONTACT_EMAIL
|
07_AGENT_CASE
Agent reference table
Description
|
Field name
|
Visa Application Case Identifier
|
VA_CASE_ID
|
Source system
|
SOURCE_SYSTEM
|
Agent Added Date
|
AGT_ADDED_DT
|
Agent Identifier
|
AGT_ID
|
Migration Agent Number Identifier
|
AGT_MARN
|
Agent Type Code
|
AGT_TYPE_CD
|
08_ATO_MGRNT_AGT
Migration agents (visa application preparer who assisted or facilitated the processing of the visa)
Description
|
Field name
|
Agent Identifier
|
AGT_ID
|
Agent Migration Agent Registration Number text
|
AGT_MARN_TX
|
Migration Agent Title
|
AGT_NAME_TITLE_TX
|
Migration Agent Family Name or Surname
|
AGT_FMLY_NM
|
Migration Agent First Given Name or First Given Initial
|
AGT_GIVEN_NM
|
Migration Agent Second Given Name or Second Given Initial
|
AGT_SCND_GVN_NM
|
09_ATO_MGRNT_AGT_ADRS
Address history for migration agents
Description
|
Field name
|
Agent Identifier
|
AGT_ID
|
Date of Effect From
|
ADDRESS_EF_DT
|
Date of Effect To
|
ADDRESS_ET_DT
|
Address Type (Residential, Postal, Business, Residential other, Postal other, Business other)
|
ADDRESS_TYPE_DS
|
Client First Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_LINE_1
|
Client Second Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_ LINE_2
|
Client Third Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_ LINE_3
|
Client Fourth Line of the Address
|
ADDRESS_ LINE_4
|
The Suburb, Town or City of the Address
|
ADDRESS_LOCALITY
|
The State or Territory of the Address
|
ADDRESS_STATE
|
The Postcode of the Address
|
ADDRESS_POSTCODE
|
Country Code
|
ADDRESS_COUNTRY
|
10_ATO_MGRNT_AGT_CONTACT
Contact history for migration agents
Description
|
Field name
|
Agent Identifier
|
AGT_ID
|
Date of Effect From
|
CONTACT_EF_DT
|
Date of Effect To
|
CONTACT_ET_DT
|
Contact Type (Residential, Postal, Business, Residential other, Postal other, Business other)
|
CONTACT_TYPE_DS
|
Contact Phone number
|
CONTACT_PHONE_NR
|
Fax number
|
CONTACT_FAX_NR
|
Email address
|
CONTACT_EMAIL
|
11_ATO_SPONSORS
Sponsor details
Description
|
Field name
|
Nomination CASE Identifier
|
CASE_ID
|
HA Source Processing System Code
|
SOURCE_SYSTEM_CD
|
Process Type Code - Source information comes from one of two application form types.
NM = Nomination application, SP = Sponsorship application
|
PROCESS_TYPE_CD
|
Visa CASE Identifier
|
VA_CASE_ID
|
Sponsor Visa Subclass Code
|
SP_VISA_SBCLS_CD
|
Sponsor Identifier
|
SP_CLIENT_ID
|
Sponsor Family Name or (Business Employer Name)
|
SP_NAME
|
Sponsor First Given Name or First Given Initial
|
SP_GIVEN_NAME
|
Sponsor Title
|
SP_TITLE
|
Sponsor ABN (Australian Business Number)
|
SP_ABN_TX
|
Nominated Base Salary $ Amount
|
NM_SALARY
|
Nominated Total Remuneration $ Amount
|
NM_TOTAL_RMNRTN
|
Post code of work location
|
NM_LOCN_PC
|
Occupation code of worker
|
NM_OCPTN_CD
|
ANZSCO = 3, ASCO = 2
|
NM_OCPTN_TYPE_CD
|
Visa to nomination link date
|
VA_LINK_EF_DT
|
Visa to nomination link end date
|
VA_LINK_ET_DT
|
12_ATO_STUDENT_ED_PRVDR
Education providers (educational institution where the student visa holder intends to undertake their study)
Description
|
Field name
|
Visa CASE Identifier
|
VA_CASE_ID
|
HA Source Processing System Code
|
VA_SOURCE_SYSTEM_CD
|
Educational Provider Code Number
|
PROVIDER_CD
|
REF_VISA_SUBCLASS
Visa subclass name
Description
|
Name
|
Client Visa Subclass Code
|
VISA_SBCLS_CD
|
Client Visa Subclass Name
|
VISA_SBCLS_DS
|
Reporting Category 1 Code
|
REPORTING_CTGRY1_CD
|
Reporting Category 1 Description
|
REPORTING_CTGRY1_DS
|
Entry Type Code
|
ENTRY_TYPE_CD
|
Entry Type Description
|
ENTRY_TYPE_DS
|
Visa selection method definitions
Data will be extracted and transferred to the ATO in batches each quarter in the focus period. The first three batches for the 2020–21 financial year will be collected monthly to support the COVID-19 measure. The batches to be collected are:
- 1/07/2020 to 31/07/2020
- 01/08/2020 to 31/08/2020
- 01/09/2020 to 30/9/2020
- 01/10/2020 to 31/10/2020
- 01/11/2020 to 30/11/2020
- 01/12/2020 to 31/12/2020
- 01/01/2021 to 31/01/2021
- 01/02/2021 to 28/02/2021
- 01/03/2021 to 31/03/2021
- 01/04/2021 to 30/06/2021
- 01/07/2021 to 30/09/2021
- 01/10/2021 to 31/12/2021
- 01/01/2022 to 31/03/2022
- 01/04/2022 to 30/06/2022
- 01/07/2022 to 30/09/2022
- 01/10/2022 to 31/12/2022
- 01/01/2023 to 31/03/2023
- 01/04/2023 to 30/06/2023
Selection method descriptions
Table name
|
Selection method description
|
Base population cohort of active visas
|
Active visas that have been granted one or more visas and stayed in Australia for any part or the whole focus period
|
Address history for visa applicants and sponsors
|
10 years of address history required for all in the base population cohort
|
Contact history for visa applicants and sponsors
|
10 years of contact history required for all in the base population cohort
|
History of visas granted (active visas)
|
10 years of history of ALL granted visas for all in the base population cohort (not limited by focus period)
|
Person visa status at a point in time
|
Snapshot records within the focus period for all in the base population cohort
|
Migration agents (visa application preparer who assisted or facilitated the processing of the visa)
|
All migration agents with a link to one or more in the base population cohort
|
Address history for migration agents
|
10 years of address history required for migration agents with a link to one or more in the base population cohort
|
Contact history for migration agents
|
10 years of contact history required for migration agents with a link to one or more in the base population cohort
|
All international travel movements undertaken by visa holders (arrivals and departures)
|
10 years of history of ALL travel movements for all in the base population cohort (not limited by focus period)
|
Sponsor details (457 visa)
|
All sponsors with a link to one or more in the base population cohort
|
Education providers (educational institution where the student visa holder intends to undertake their study)
|
All education providers with a link to one or more in the base population cohort
|
Visa subclass name
|
All visa subclass names with a link to one or more in the base population cohort
|
See also:
Public notification of the program
We will notify the public of our intention to collect 2020–21 to 2022–23 data by:
- publishing a notice in the Federal Register of Legislation gazette the week commencing 2 November 2020
- publishing this data-matching program protocol on our website at ato.gov.au/dmprotocols
- advising the data providers
- they can notify their clients of their participation in this program
- the Privacy PolicyExternal Link on Department of Home Affairs website includes that personal information is disclosed to ATO for data-matching purposes.
Gazette notice content
The following information about the data-matching program appears as a gazette notice in the Federal Register of Legislation.
Commissioner of Taxation – Notice of a data-matching program
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire visa data from the Department of Home Affairs for 2020–21 through to 2022–23. The data items include:
- Address history for visa applicants and sponsors.
- Contact history for visa applicants and sponsors.
- All visa grants.
- Visa grant status by point in time.
- Migration agents (visa application preparer who assisted or facilitated the processing of the visa).
- Address history for migration agents.
- Contact history for migration agents.
- All international travel movements undertaken by visa holders (arrivals and departures).
- Sponsor details
- Education providers (educational institution where a student visa holder intends to undertake their study).
- Visa subclass name.
We estimate records relating to approximately 10 million individuals will be obtained each financial year.
The data will be acquired and matched with ATO data holdings to identify non-compliance with obligations under taxation and superannuation laws.
These obligations may include registration, lodgment, reporting and payment responsibilities.
The objectives of this program are to:
- promote voluntary compliance by communicating how we use external data to help encourage taxpayers to comply with their tax and superannuation obligations
- continue to refine our understanding of the visa population tax and superannuation risks across:
- visa holders
- visa sponsors
- migration agents
- develop and implement treatment strategies to improve voluntary compliance; which may include educational or compliance activities as appropriate
- help ensure visa populations fulfil their registration, lodgment, correct reporting and payment of tax and superannuation obligations
- test the accuracy and strengths of our existing risk detection models and treatment systems, and identify areas for improvement in our models, treatment systems and practices
- identify potentially new or emergent approaches to fraud and those entities controlling or exploiting the visa framework
- improve the integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems by cancelling ineligible ABN holders
- support compliance activities under Australia's foreign investment rules
- identify and educate those individuals and businesses who may be failing to meet their registration and/or lodgment obligations and assist them to comply.
A document describing this program is available at ato.gov.au/dmprotocols.
This program follows the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian Government administration (2014) (the guidelines). The guidelines include standards for the use data-matching as an administrative tool in a way that complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and are consistent with good privacy practice.
A full copy of the ATO’s privacy policy can be accessed at ato.gov.au/privacy.