Community comes together for tax

19 October 2012

 Community leaders from a wide range of cultural backgrounds met with the Commissioner of Taxation in Springvale on Tuesday 9 October to discuss tax and super issues. The annual ATO non-English speaking background community consultation forum attracted representatives from many backgrounds including Vietnamese, Chinese, Burmese, African and emerging communities.

ATO Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo opened the forum describing his own experiences as a migrant and the challenges he faced when he arrived in Australia. He enthusiastically reinforced the ATO's commitment to helping diverse communities.

Chin Tan, Chairperson of Victorian Multicultural Commission co-chaired the event and outlined the ATO's community engagement approach saying, "The ATO wants to work with you". He went on to describe the extensive work the ATO has done to provide information and services in many different languages.

The open forum provided an opportunity for community members to take the microphone and direct questions to senior ATO representatives as well as the  National Manager of the Multicultural Services Branch in the Department of Human Services, Tricia Flanagan,.

A number of valuable discussions followed with suggestions to increase the number of Tax Help volunteers from non-English speaking backgrounds and increase the number of languages products and services are available in.

A vox pop video which features community leaders from different backgrounds was played on the night and will be made available on the ATO YouTube channel soon.

The ATO's Access and Diversity Unit can be contacted at diversity@ato.gov.au