Are you passionate about the future of Australia’s tax and super system and willing to represent your peers and share their thoughts on a broad range of topics? Do you want to share your insights and experience to help shape the future private groups experience?
We are calling for expressions of interest from a cross-section of the private groups sector to become members of the Private Groups Stewardship Group (PGSG).
Key dates
Closing date for expressions of interest: 2 October 2024
Notification of outcome by 22 November 2024.
Provide expressions of interest by email to: PrivateGroupsStewardshipGroup@ato.gov.au with 'EOI – PGSG Membership' as the email subject line.
About the PGSG
The PGSG was established in 2016 and is one of the stewardship groups operated by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as a means of improving the client experience and administration of Australia’s tax and super systems.
The PGSG primarily focuses on:
- Identifying opportunities to improve the tax and super system to make it easy for private groups to get things right and hard not to.
- Gaining insights into issues faced by the private groups sector to improve future approaches and processes.
- Increasing community confidence and trust in the ATO by identifying ways to create a better client experience for the private groups sector through regular and open engagement and consultation.
- Simplifying the administration of the tax and super systems to encourage compliance and reduce costs.
An important feature of the PGSG is the diverse range of members' skills and experience which helps us understand the issues and impacts of policy and administration changes on private groups. We are keen to have business representatives as they provide valuable feedback from the client perspective, and we want to get the balance right between advisory members from accounting and law firms, professional association members and clients in the private groups sector.
A current list of members and key messages from previous meetings are published on the ATO website, Private Groups Stewardship Group. These messages provide an insight to the type of tax and administrative issues that we have previously consulted on.
Member role and responsibilities
Members will actively contribute to the work of the group and abide by the ATO Consultation framework. Advisory members are individual members in their own personal capacity and not as representatives of their firms. Professional association members represent the relevant professional body or industry.
Members will provide input on issues and processes affecting the private groups sector in relation to the administration of tax and super. They will identify emerging issues or developments that may be of concern to the private groups sector in relation to meeting tax and super obligations and identify opportunities to improve the administration of it.
While the PGSG operates in an environment of transparency, there may be circumstances where members will be asked to limit the sharing or dissemination of information. Members must disclose any matters that could be perceived as, or are, conflicts of interest and successful nominees will be required to complete an integrity declaration.
As per the PGSG’s charter, the ATO co-chair has the final decision on membership of the group.
Time commitment
Members are appointed for 2 years. The time commitment required is one day for attendance at face-to-face/online meetings 3 to 4 times per year, plus pre-reading. Meetings are usually held in:
- March
- June
- September
- November.
Meetings are held in Melbourne or Sydney. Additional special purpose meetings (including confidential consultation sessions) may be conducted out-of-session where appropriate for members interested in certain topics.
Membership is expected to commence from February 2025 with the first meeting in March 2025. Prior to the meeting, new members will be introduced to PGSG processes and stewardship activities.
Payment
Members will not be paid or reimbursed by the ATO for the cost of their time spent attending meetings or attending to related issues.
How to nominate
Submit a short curriculum vitae (CV) and a brief statement addressing the following key criteria:
- capacity and commitment to attend meetings throughout the year
- experience working as a business representative (including as a client), professional association or tax professional in the private groups sector, including duration and nature of experience
- the association or group whose views/challenges you can represent and your capacity to tap into peer views to assist you to identify and raise key issues and challenges facing the profession
- how you intend to use your skills and experience to improve PGSG outcomes – this includes your willingness and ability to actively contribute to PGSG discussions, to constructively challenge, and to provide insights and suggestions that assist the ATO to improve the tax and super systems, and the experience of private groups.
Note: Existing PGSG members do not need to provide a CV, but we ask that you provide a statement addressing the criteria.