Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Notice of a Data-matching Program for the Workforce Australia Single Touch Payroll Initial Data Share

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (the department) is collaborating with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to develop and deliver a project (initial data share) for three use cases (Use Cases) in relation to the department’s administration of the employment services program known as Workforce Australia.

The three Use Cases are:

• Wage Subsidies: Single Touch Payroll (STP) data will be used to determine employer eligibility for a wage subsidy agreement and/or payment.
• Outcome Payments: STP data will be used to determine eligibility for an outcome payment for providers.
• Mutual Obligations: STP data will be used to determine if a participant has worked during their ‘mutual obligation’ period to ‘nudge’ participants to claim Points Based Activation System (PBAS) points to satisfy their requirements under the social security law.

The activities and operations of providers, employers and participants will continue as normal during the initial data share.  The department has determined that no consequences will flow on as a result (e.g. contact will not be made with any provider, employer or participant based on the Use Case outcomes).

Additionally, the department will not be permitted to use STP data for any overpayment, fraud or non-compliance activities (e.g. to take compliance action against participants, employers or providers).

The Data-matching Program will identify those individuals that have a relationship with both the department and the ATO (referred to as “mutual clients”). This is done by the department providing information about participants and some employers to the ATO, and the ATO matching that information against ATO records to locate a mutual client match.

The department will only disclose to the ATO the minimum personal information which is necessary for the ATO to have a sufficiently high degree of confidence about whether or not a participant is a mutual client of both the ATO and the department.

For those participants with a high confidence match, the department will provide the ATO the duration of data required for the Use Case. The ATO then provides the department with STP data it holds for those mutual clients.

Data will be shared as a one-off arrangement and will involve approximately 46,000 participants. The number of participants for whom this program applies may change when STP data exchange begins, for example if a statistically valid number of matches are not provided to confirm each Use Case.