Clunky, but they saved $50m in processing costs
To achieve our vision of being a contemporary, service-oriented organisation, we are transforming how our clients experience the tax and super systems. We will underpin this transformation through significant cultural change and improvements for our staff.
Our transformation is driven by the changing environment and expectations of the Australian community. It also supports the government’s drive for productivity, efficiency and deregulation.
In response to community and government needs, we created a blueprint for change. It is built on extensive consultation and an understanding of the interactions people have with the tax and super systems and other government services.
The blueprint reflects the kind of experience the community and our staff want to have when they participate in the tax and super systems. It is our anchor point and will provide a clear line of sight to what we want to achieve as we reinvent the ATO. Throughout the program, we’ll continue to consult with the community to ensure we’re on track to provide the right experience.
We’re already working from the blueprint and expect to deliver the changes people want progressively in the years ahead. Some changes will happen in the near future and other changes will take longer – and delivery will be influenced by many factors, including legislative direction, finance and our work with other agencies.
This version of our blueprint includes the future experiences for some of our clients but not all of them. We are working with our other client groups to understand their needs and reflect them in our future plans.
Ultimately, the true measure of success of our reinvention will be client satisfaction and participation in the tax and super systems.
What people told us
During our community consultations, we explored what people needed to help get their tax and superannuation right and make the experience easier for them. People told us they wanted us to fix the basics, foster confidence and trust by providing certainty and acting with integrity, tailor interactions to their needs, and help them to navigate the tax and super systems.
Our staff asked us to develop the capabilities and expertise required to succeed and to focus on delivering a contemporary client experience. Staff want to be empowered to make decisions, have the right tools and resources to help them do their job and be valued for their contribution. Staff also want us to fix the basics – quickly identifying and addressing irritants and blockers.
Our future direction
Our future services will be professional, contemporary and tailored, taking into account different circumstances, and making it easy for clients and staff to get things right and hard not to.
Timely access to the right information will enable us to be more transparent and give the community greater certainty about their entitlements, obligations, and position in the tax and super systems. Our interactions with clients will be tailored to their behaviours and choices.
We’ll enable our staff to do their jobs effectively by empowering and trusting them to make decisions, and giving them contemporary tools to work with. We’ll give our people every opportunity to broaden their existing skills and knowledge. They’ll also learn from strong leaders around them, helping them to build the capabilities to meet evolving community expectations.
We’ll build strong working relationships with our partners in the system to deliver effective, efficient services to the community.
We’ll continue to build community confidence by ensuring everyone pays the right amount of tax at the right time The integrity of the system will be maintained by supporting those who choose to do the right thing and dealing with those who don’t.
Strategic programs that underpin our reinvention
We have six strategic programs of change that will begin to deliver on our reinvention and transform the client and staff experience:
delivering contemporary digital infrastructure and services that are easier to access
working with our partners in the tax and super system to create stronger relationships
being smarter with our use of data to improve services and compliance
fostering a dynamic workforce and client-focused culture
tailoring engagement and support to meet individual needs
implementing appropriate governance and measuring our success against community values.
Read more about it http://reinventing.ato.gov.au/future-ato