Comcare Chief Executive Officer
NOTICE OF A DATA MATCHING PROGRAM
Comcare will request and collect details of individuals who are currently receiving or have received incapacity payments in relation to a Comcare workers’ compensation claim for any period during the financial years 2009–10 through 2011–12 from:
- The Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Injured Workers details will be provided to the ATO to be electronically matched with the ATO data holdings. Comcare will be collecting relevant income related information reported by individuals to the ATO for each relevant financial year from 2009–10 through 2011–12. Comcare will receive and utilise this information to ensure Injured Workers have received and continue to receive the correct level of entitlements from Comcare.
Records relating to approximately 4,500 of Comcare’s Injured Workers will be matched in each reference year.
This program is called the Injured Worker Data Matching Program, enabling Comcare to:
- Verify the information provided by Injured Workers;
- Promote Comcare compliance activities to support voluntary compliance; and
- Improve robustness of internal systems as described in Comcare’s Strategic Plan, 2010–2015.
A document describing this program has been prepared and lodged with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. A copy of this document is available from:
Request via mail:
Service Delivery Canberra
Comcare
GPO Box 9905
Canberra ACT 2601
by emailing datamatching@comcare.gov.au
or from Comcare’s Internet website http://comcare.gov.au/the_scheme/fraud/data_matching
Comcare complies with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s The Use of
Data Matching in Commonwealth Administration - Guidelines 1998 which includes standards for data matching to protect the privacy of individuals.
Overview
The Comcare Chief Executive Officer Notice of a Data Matching Program, gazetted in 2013, establishes a framework for Comcare to request and collect details of injured workers who have received or are receiving incapacity payments in relation to workers’ compensation claims. This program, known as the Injured Worker Data Matching Program, is designed to match the personal details of approximately 4,500 injured workers annually from the financial years 2009-10 to 2011-12 with information held by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The primary objectives of this initiative are to verify the accuracy of information provided by injured workers, promote voluntary compliance with Comcare regulations, and enhance the robustness of internal systems, as outlined in Comcare’s Strategic Plan for 2010-2015. Comcare adheres to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s guidelines for data matching to safeguard individual privacy.
Scope and Application
The Injured Worker Data Matching Program, as described in the Comcare notice, applies to individuals who are currently receiving or have received incapacity payments in relation to a Comcare workers’ compensation claim for any period during the financial years 2009–10 through 2011–12. This program involves the collection and matching of relevant income-related information reported by these individuals to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) with the data held by Comcare. The purpose of this data matching is to verify the information provided by injured workers, promote Comcare’s compliance activities, and improve the robustness of its internal systems. The program is conducted within the Commonwealth jurisdiction and Comcare assures that it complies with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines 1998 to protect the privacy of individuals. Comcare may also extend or restrict the application of this program through subordinate instruments as necessary, although specific details on any such instruments are not provided in the notice.
Key Provisions
The key provisions of the Comcare's Data Matching Program, as outlined in the notice, are contained in the process by which Comcare requests and collects details of individuals who have received incapacity payments in relation to a workers' compensation claim from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (section 1). Comcare's primary objective is to verify the information provided by injured workers, enhance compliance activities, and improve the robustness of internal systems (section 2). The program focuses on matching records relating to approximately 4,500 injured workers for each relevant financial year from 2009-10 through 2011-12 (section 3).
The obligations and requirements imposed by this Act on the parties involved include Comcare's responsibility to request and collect the necessary details from the ATO, ensuring that injured workers have received and continue to receive the correct level of entitlements from Comcare (section 1). The ATO is required to provide injured workers' details for the specified financial years to Comcare for electronic matching with their data holdings (section 1). Both Comcare and the ATO must comply with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines 1998, which includes standards for data matching to protect the privacy of individuals (section 5).
There are no explicit offences, penalties, or civil/criminal consequences stated within the notice for breach of the Act. However, the program's primary aim is to ensure that injured workers receive the correct level of entitlements and to promote compliance activities, which indirectly implies that non-compliance could lead to issues related to the accuracy of the entitlements provided to injured workers. Additionally, by adhering to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines 1998, both Comcare and the ATO must ensure that the privacy of individuals is protected, and any failure to do so could result in legal consequences under the applicable privacy laws.