Our organisational capability is the combination of our people, culture, governance principles, processes, systems and knowledge. Strong organisational capabilities directly contribute to delivering on our purpose and key activities, ensuring we are well-positioned to support the Australian community.
Workforce
We are a high performing and agile workforce with a focus on integrity, the right culture, capability, and tools to deliver the best client and staff experience.
The expertise and capability of our people are key to delivering our priorities and our role as part of the broader public service, implementing APS reform initiatives.
We develop future workforce strategies and plans to attract, recruit, develop and retain our people. We shape our workforce design to best use our resources and build on our capabilities.
Our contemporary employment offer is designed to attract the skills and capabilities we need to deliver for the community.
In 2024–25, the ATO will reduce outsourcing of core work in line with the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework. Our targets for 2024–25 focus on reduced outsourcing of information technology, service delivery and data analytics work, with an expected reduction of $31.9 million in 2024–25 in outsourcing expenditure.
Our workforce is key to our success, and we are committed to investing in its development, now and into the future. We recognise the importance of leadership that inspires, empowers, and encourages our people. Our leadership strategy sets out expectations of how we lead the organisation today and nurture the leaders of tomorrow.
We are committed to maintaining safe work practices and workplaces for our people. We support our staff to manage their wellbeing and foster a healthier and thriving work environment that positions them to support individual and organisational performance.
We continue to focus on our culture and diversity strategies. This supports our commitment to an inclusive workplace that improves the experience of staff and enhances our interactions with clients and partners. We strive to achieve higher representation across diversity groups, particularly at leadership levels, to ensure our workforce reflects the community we serve.
Over the coming year, we are positioning the ATO and our people for the future, ensuring we can adapt and respond to changes in our working environment. Our focus will be on the recruitment, development, and retention of the necessary skills, expertise, and talent that align with our future workforce and organisational needs. We are dedicated to cultivating a dynamic and agile workforce that effectively utilises data, tools, and technology in support of our key activities.
- Attract and recruit
We have an attraction and recruitment model that supports the unique and diverse career opportunities available in the ATO. - Develop
We have a strong focus on ensuring our people have the skills and capabilities needed to deliver on current and future objectives. - Retain
We continue to shape our work environment and culture that prioritises engagement, wellbeing and inclusion. Our people are valued and supported in their roles and careers.
Technology
Our technology and digital services deliver a reliable and contemporary client experience and keep pace with community expectations.
We are a leading digital business, known for technology-enabled innovation, integrity and insight. Our technology strategy will continue to guide investment in our key technology services, while building the foundation for future capabilities and supporting our data and analytics capability. Our goal is to deliver the following outcomes:
- Exceptional client and staff experiences
The ATO’s technology services drive digital-first thinking and deliver high-quality client and staff experiences. - Effective and efficient organisation
Technology is managed in a way that supports the ATO in being highly effective and efficient at undertaking its business. - Interoperable ecosystem with high levels of trust
The ATO is building foundations that foster a high‑functioning ecosystem where market-driven innovation delivers value.
We will achieve this with strategic technology priorities that focus on:
- modern and stable information technology systems
- applications and platform design
- natural systems and data insights
- efficiency, value and cost
- capability and culture.
The ATO digital strategy continues to drive digitalisation efforts with a focus on keeping our foundations strong while making the right incremental improvements and additions to our digital services. We will focus on increasing built-in upfront integrity with secure services, while reimagining how our digital systems support the future needs of clients.
We have made significant advances to improve experiences for clients and partners. We will leverage these foundations to continue digitalising our operations, providing quality end-to-end digital services with a focus on improving the staff digital experience when interacting with clients and partners.
Financial investment
We strive for operational excellence to achieve efficiency and quality outcomes.
The ATO is committed to ensuring all spending arrangements are consistent with Commonwealth policies.
Our financial policy framework ensures that we meet all the requirements of good governance over our decisions and actions under the PGPA Act including the following:
- Committing money and approving spending
The ATO is committed to ensuring all spending arrangements support the proper use of ATO resources and are approved with the appropriate delegation or authorisation. - Financial governance
The PGPA Act requires all ATO officials to have a high standard of governance and promote the proper use of public resources in an efficient, effective, economical, and ethical way. - Budget management
The ATO is committed to best practice in the efficient and effective use of its financial resources in accordance with the PGPA Act. This includes managing expenditure within budget affordability.
Our financial management practices are underpinned by the ATO’s principles for financial governance which inform how the ATO collects, manages, monitors, and controls financial information and decisions. All ATO officials are required to have a high standard of governance and promote the proper use of public resources in an efficient, effective, economical, and ethical way.
The principles are:
- Efficient is ensuring that the most suitable resources are being used to deliver the best outcome.
We achieve this by ensuring decisions and actions support the financial integrity of the ATO. - Effective relates to the extent to which the commitment of resources will achieve the expected results.
We achieve this by developing and maintaining Chief Executive Instructions which support ATO officials in complying with legislative requirements. - Economical focuses on the best cost option and avoiding waste.
We achieve this by ensuring financial duties performed on behalf of the ATO are carried out with the proper authority and where necessary the relevant delegation. - Ethical is how a person in a similar situation may be expected to act.
We achieve this by providing guidelines and support to ATO staff to make informed financial decisions that represent a proper use of public resources under the PGPA Act.