ATO assistant commissioner returns for second round of industrial relations duty. Think you can do a better job than last time? Apply here.
The Australian Taxation Office has reaffirmed its strong tradition of giving it to the Australian Public Service Commission, with the lead-up to the next round of enterprise bargaining negotiations resulting in yet another senior official being recruited to the triennial industrial arm-wrestle.
It has been confirmed that ATO assistant commissioner Damien Booth (HR Operations) took up a secondment with the Australian Public Service Commission on June 22. He’s going to help out with negotiations between the Albanese government (represented by the APSC) and public-sector unions.
Booth’s secondment comes after the promotion of ATO chief operating officer and HR lead Jacqui Curtis to Australian Public Service commissioner. She used her succession of Gordon de Brouwer to signal a culture shift from established promotion patterns based on time served to one based on delivery.
The ATO has had some famous debacles over the past decade — like Operation Protego, created to stop the looting of the Goods and Services Tax automated refund facility. Protego nabbed tens of thousands of Australians engaged in a frenzy of first-person fraud. (Note: it was nothing on the scale of the robodebt scandal that the ATO repeatedly and vigorously repudiated.)
Integrity restored to ‘intact’, it now appears that the ATO is ripe for the picking of key negotiators for the next APS round of bargaining.
Booth’s secondment follows that of Alison Stott, ATO Enterprise Strategy and Corporate Operations Group deputy commissioner, to run the Commonwealth’s employer side for enterprise bargaining.
“Assistant commissioner Damien Booth (HR Operations) is taking up a secondment with the Australian Public Service Commission from June 22. As a result, Kirsten Hughes will act as assistant commissioner, HR Operations, for four weeks while longer-term arrangements are made,” the ATO said in an update to staff.
“Sheridan Harvey is acting deputy commissioner, Enterprise Strategy & Design, until an Expression of Interest process is finalised for longer-term arrangements. Janelle Oakes is acting assistant commissioner, Strategy and Governance, during this time,” Brad Chapman, acting chief operating officer, Enterprise Strategy & Corporate Operations for the ATO, told staff.
“Following finalisation of an EOI process, I’m really pleased to share that Melinda Bopping will act as deputy commissioner, ATO People, for an initial period of three months.
“As a result, effective June 29, Tim Silvers will temporarily transfer to assistant commissioner, Working Well, and Richard Stinziani will act as the assistant commissioner, PST North CEG & LDP Business Partner & ELP Operations,” Chapman said.
The movements indicate that the APSC, under new leadership, is refocusing on delivery and performance after triaging the governance and integrity issues that occupied it during the immediate post-robodebt sanitisation period.
It also indicates that the broader Albanese government may be more receptive to ideas beyond those offered by the APS’s dominant union, the Community and Public Sector Union, which remains formally affiliated to the Australian Labor Party, unlike state branches.
It’s unlikely that the ground will shift in terms of pattern bargaining for the APS, led by the CPSU. But the political pressure to accommodate the views and issues of other APS employee representatives just went up a notch.
About the author
Julian Bajkowski
Senior journalist
Julian Bajkowski is a research and technical-driven reporter with over 20 years’ experience in technology and cybersecurity journalism. Julian has also been an adviser in public policy and corporate affairs for Mastercard and
