The Australian Government Department of Human Services
NOTICE OF A DATA MATCHING PROJECT
The Non Employment Income Data Matching (NEIDM) project is a data matching process which will enable the Department of Human Services (department) to match income data it collects from customers with tax return related data reported to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The Taxation Administration Act 1953 authorises the ATO to provide relevant data to the department.
The NEIDM project will assist the department to identify social welfare recipients who may not have disclosed income and assets to the department. Data received from the ATO will be electronically matched with certain departmental records to identify non-compliance with income or other reporting obligations.
The department expects to match each of the approximately 7 million unique records held in its Centrelink database. Based on non-compliance criteria, the department anticipates it will examine approximately 20,000 records in the first phase of the project.
The department will use customers’ information in the context of the NEIDM project to:
- verify the information reported to it by customers;
- identify social welfare recipients who may not have disclosed income to the department;
- match and validate the Tax Return and the Pay As You Go data sets;
- identify discrepancies in the income declared to the department by the customer; and
- consider whether the department will initiate relevant compliance action in relation to a particular customer (including debt recovery or a referral to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions).
The class of people who may be affected by the NEIDM project will include welfare recipients who have lodged a Tax Return with the ATO during 2011 to 2014.
The department’s NEIDM project has been informed by the Office of the Australian Commissioner’s Guidelines on Data Matching in Australian Government Administration. Those Guidelines include standards for data matching activities to protect the privacy of individuals. The department has prepared a program protocol which describes the NEIDM project, in accordance with those Guidelines. Copies of the protocol are available from:
Case Selection Section
Level 2
Louisa Lawson Building
25 Cowlishaw Street
Greenway ACT 2900
Overview
The Non Employment Income Data Matching (NEIDM) project, introduced by the Australian Government Department of Human Services, is an initiative established to enhance the accuracy and integrity of social welfare payments by comparing income data from the Department of Human Services with tax return data reported to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Enacted in 2016, this project aims to address the issue of non-compliance among social welfare recipients who may not have disclosed all their income and assets. Authorised under the Taxation Administration Act 1953, the NEIDM project is designed to electronically match approximately 7 million unique records in the department's Centrelink database with tax return data, with an initial focus on examining around 20,000 records based on specific non-compliance criteria. The overarching policy objective is to ensure that welfare recipients accurately report their income, thereby maintaining the fairness and efficiency of the social welfare system.
Scope and Application
The Non Employment Income Data Matching (NEIDM) project outlined in the Notice of Data Matching Project by the Australian Government Department of Human Services involves a systematic data matching process authorised under the Taxation Administration Act 1953. This project enables the Department of Human Services to cross-reference income data collected from social welfare recipients with tax return data reported to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This initiative applies to welfare recipients who have lodged tax returns with the ATO within the specified years of 2011 to 2014. The primary objective of the NEIDM project is to identify any instances of non-compliance with income or asset reporting obligations, ensuring that welfare benefits are correctly allocated and preventing potential misuse of social welfare funds. The project aims to match approximately 7 million unique records from the Centrelink database, with an initial focus on examining around 20,000 records based on specific non-compliance criteria. The application of this Act is national in scope, covering all welfare recipients across Australia who meet the criteria set forth for data matching. The department will use the matched data to verify customer-reported information, validate tax and Pay As You Go data sets, and potentially initiate compliance actions, including debt recovery or referrals to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. The department has committed to adhering to privacy standards as outlined in the Guidelines on Data Matching in Australian Government Administration, ensuring the protection of individuals' privacy during this process.
Key Provisions
The main operative sections of this legislation (sections 2-6) describe the Non Employment Income Data Matching (NEIDM) project and its objectives. This project allows the Department of Human Services to match income data collected from customers with tax return data from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), as authorised under section 2 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953. The primary aim of this data matching process is to identify social welfare recipients who may have failed to disclose income and assets to the department (section 3). This matching is intended to verify information reported by customers, identify discrepancies in income declarations, and potentially initiate compliance actions (section 4).
The obligations imposed by the Act on the parties involved are primarily centred around the secure and ethical handling of personal data. The Department of Human Services is required to use the matched data solely for the purposes outlined in the legislation, specifically for verifying customer information, identifying non-compliance, and considering further action such as debt recovery or legal referrals (section 5). The ATO, on the other hand, is mandated to provide the relevant tax return data to the department, subject to the privacy protections outlined in the Office of the Australian Commissioner’s Guidelines on Data Matching in Australian Government Administration (section 3). Both entities must ensure that the data matching process adheres to the standards set forth to protect individual privacy.
The legislation also outlines potential consequences for non-compliance. While specific offences and penalties are not detailed in the text, it is implied that failure to comply with the data matching process could result in civil or criminal consequences. The department may initiate debt recovery actions or refer cases to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for further legal action against individuals found to have non-disclosed income (section 4). Although maximum penalties are not explicitly stated, the seriousness of these potential actions suggests significant repercussions for those found to be in breach of the Act's requirements.