By Miriam Webber
February 22 2024
"It's a shame" that the consultants crackdown could lead to less movement from the private to the public sector, the retiring tax office boss says.
After more than 10 years as the Commissioner of Taxation, Chris Jordan will retire from the top job at the Australian Taxation Office on February 29.
He is the longest-serving boss of a major federal government agency, leaving Defence secretary Greg Moriarty - who has held the role since 2017 - to take on that title.
In his last address to the National Press Club, Mr Jordan celebrated a career in which he was plucked from big four firm KPMG in 2013 to "radically transform and modernise" the tax office.
Mr Jordan said he had cut red tape, embraced digitisation and responded to a surge in fraud and debt post-COVID.
He also referenced a colourful decade in which he had dodged defamation action, defended himself against allegations of contempt of the Senate, received death threats, and been called a "boofhead" by actor Paul Hogan.
But the ATO boss could not avoid questions on the agency's central role in a slew of recent scandals, including the PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia tax leak.
ATO caught up in PwC's tax leak scandal
The Tax Practitioner's Board banned PwC's former head of international tax, Peter-John Collins, as a tax agent for two years in January 2023, over allegations he had shared information from a confidential Treasury briefing with other staff and partners.
Treasury has since referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police.
The ATO has faced criticisms from senators probing the tax leak, after Mr Jordan revealed the agency held concerns about a leak in 2017, but was unable to communicate this to Treasury due to strict secrecy laws.
He has called for the tax office to be granted criminal investigation powers to prevent this happening again.
Retiring tax boss says 'it's a shame' movement between the APS and private sector might decrease. Picture by Jeffrey Chan
The tax boss, whose selection in 2013 marked a "radical" shift from elevating career public servants, was asked whether the agency was too "cosy" with private firms, an idea he rejected.
"We work with them, we need them in the system, they're systemic advisers that are necessary," he said.
"Tax can be complex ... I think it's a shame that you might see less willingness of senior private sector people wanting for all the right reasons to come and give back, and do good things for the public service."
He added that these people usually take a significant hit to their pay packets to return to the APS.
"I think we might see that there'll be less interest in that, but you can't just be a closed shop."
'Our journey is far from over': Jordan
Mr Jordan will be replaced by long-time public servant Rob Heferen, currently the head of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Deputy commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn, who also came up through the private sector, had previously been tipped as a strong contender.
"It's good for people at the ATO to go to the private sector and maybe come back," Mr Jordan said.
"It's good for the private sector people to come and we get the benefit of knowledge that we might not have had."
Mr Jordan was also speaking after revelations that up to 150 people with links to the tax office were involved in a fraud scheme that went viral on TikTok.
"I'm not under any illusions the ATO of 2024 is perfect," he said, forecasting the challenges ahead for Mr Heferen, including becoming fully digitalised by 2030.
"Meanwhile, importantly the ATO now looks outside the APS when assessing our own performance."
"I see a future where the ATO is considered the best when compared with any organisation interacting with a large and diverse client base, anywhere in the world."