Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration

Review of the ANAO audit report No.37 1998-99 on the management of the Tax File Numbers
Media Releases

Media release: 8 December 1999

ECONOMICS COMMITTEE QUERIES PRIVACY COMMISSIONER ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO TFN SYSTEM

The Federal Privacy Commissioner will be asked to expand on his views on the privacy implications of the proposed extensions to the Tax File Number (TFN) system at a public hearing on Thursday 9 December 1999.

The House Economics Committee Chairman, Mr David Hawker, said 'The recent audit report into the TFN system has found major weaknesses and inefficiencies that need to be addressed. This includes $500m worth of tax that has not been collected and significant TFN and tax fraud risks.'

'Clearly, any reforms to the TFN system need to consider the important issue of privacy. However, as the Privacy Commissioner has acknowledged, privacy is not about protecting wrongdoing or secrecy. Nor should it be an excuse for inaction by the ATO.'

The Privacy Commissioner, Mr Malcolm Crompton, has noted concern with a number of the Auditor-General's recommendations and has stressed the need for balance, stating that 'What is needed is to find privacy solutions that serve the public interest while protecting the privacy of individuals as far as possible.'

The Privacy Commissioner has identified what he sees as two very important privacy protections of the current system:

• 'The tax file number is not to be used as a national identification system by whatever means.

• The rights of individuals under taxation, assistance agency or superannuation law to choose not to quote a tax file number shall be respected.'

Mr Hawker said that 'Issues to be canvassed with the Privacy Commissioner include:

• the effectiveness of the current privacy framework in protecting the privacy of individuals from intrusion by the public sector;

• community attitudes to privacy and how these have changed since the Federal Privacy Act was first enacted;

• the different standards for privacy protection in the public and private sectors;

• whether increasing and new types of fraud warrant changes to the TFN system and its current levels of privacy protections;

• how the Auditor-General's recommendations would impact on individual privacy;

• whether the Auditor-General's recommendations need to be better targeted to limit their impact on privacy; and

• whether the proposed changes to the TFN system would remove the central privacy protections of the current TFN system.'

Copies of the Privacy Commissioner's submission are available from the Committee's secretariat or website at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/efpa.

Ends // 8 December 1999
Further information:
David Hawker MP (Chairman) 02 - 6277 4100 (Parliament House)
Melissa Stutsel (Principal Research Officer) 02 - 6277 2319
Email: EFPA.Reps@aph.gov.au

 

Committee Membership 39th Parliament

Chairman: Mr David Hawker MP
Deputy Chairman: Mr Gregory Wilton MP
Members:
Mr Anthony Albanese MP
Ms Anna Burke MP
Ms Teresa Gambaro MP
Mrs Kay Hull MP
Mr Mark Latham MP
Mr Christopher Pyne MP
Hon Alex Somlyay MP
Dr Andrew Southcott MP

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