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
Last reviewed 15 December 1999 by the Committee Secretariat
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