ATO purported manipulation of phone system performance statistics

Ato Nduvho made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Taxation Office

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

Waiting for an internal review by Australian Taxation Office of their handling of this request.

Dear Australian Taxation Office,

This is a valid request under the FOI Act. Please process it accordingly.

I refer to a submission made to the current Senate inquiry into bargaining in the APS. One of your employees states the following in their submission:

"The ATO has a policy of turning off the IVR if there is a danger of statistics not being reached. This dishonest and abhorrent policy is extremely poor service and frustrating for clients. If it looks like the required statistic is not going to be met, the IVR is turned off so clients cannot get through. They get a recorded message. The calls which do not get through are not counted, so the statistic is met and the ATO is satisfied. The client? Well, do they really matter anyway? If they did, the organisation would be properly staffed with well-trained people."

I request the following information:
1. Any documentation which describes policy or practice in switching off IVR for statistical manipulation purposes.
2. Logs which show the dates and times of all downtime for the IVR system during normal operational hours, in addition to explanatory documentation for each occasion of downtime.

Yours faithfully,

Ato Nduvho

FOI, Australian Taxation Office

 
Dear Ato Nduvho
 
 
The ATO does not process FOI requests received via righttoknow.org.au.
Please send your FOI request direct to [1][ATO request email], or lodge via
paper form available at
[2]https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Con....
Alternatively, you can contact the ATO on 13 28 69 and ask for Freedom of
Information.
 
 
Regards,
FOI Team
 
 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ATO request email]
2. https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Con...

Dear Australian Taxation Office,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Taxation Office's handling of my FOI request 'ATO purported manipulation of phone system performance statistics'.

I encourage the department to stop being intentionally obstructive to the freedom of information in Australia. While this request is publicly visible on Right To Know, it has been emailed to you at your nominated email address. It is unacceptable to ignore emails from specific domains such as @righttoknow.org.au

The reasons you have given for denying Right To Know requests are not acceptable and defy credibility of a reasonable person. Inadequacies of the ATO in procedural matters are a matter for the ATO and should not inhibit access to information which is a public right.

As you are aware the overwhelming majority of APS agencies have gladly processed Right To Know requests with no complaints whatsoever. I demand the ATO do the same, in accordance with the law.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Ato Nduvho

FOI, Australian Taxation Office

Dear Ato Nduvho
 
 
The ATO does not process FOI requests received via righttoknow.org.au.
Please send your FOI request direct to [1][ATO request email], or lodge via
paper form available at
[2]https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Con....
Alternatively, you can contact the ATO on 13 28 69 and ask for Freedom of
Information.
 
 
Regards,
FOI Team
 
 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ATO request email]
2. https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Con...

Dear Australian Taxation Office,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Taxation Office's handling of my FOI request 'ATO purported manipulation of phone system performance statistics'.

I encourage the department to stop being intentionally obstructive to the freedom of information in Australia. While this request is publicly visible on Right To Know, it has been emailed to you at your nominated email address. It is unacceptable to ignore emails from specific domains such as @righttoknow.org.au

The reasons you have given for denying Right To Know requests are not acceptable and defy credibility of a reasonable person. Inadequacies of the ATO in procedural matters are a matter for the ATO and should not inhibit access to information which is a public right.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Ato Nduvho

Dear FOI Officer,

I write to you in relation to my FOI request dated 7 November 2016, which is yet to be processed by you.

This request is now 5 months overdue.

For your reference, the details of my request can be located at the following URL:

https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...

As you know, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has confirmed requests made via Right to Know, or other similar anonymous facilities, are valid requests according to the FOI Act.

Accordingly, I demand the ATO process my FOI request in accordance with the law.

I would appreciate it if you could respond to this email to confirm this request will be processed. I would also appreciate prompt processing of this request, considering you have ignored me via this channel for the last 5 months.

Yours sincerely,

Ato Nduvho

James Baldwin left an annotation ()

Hi Ato,

You will never get a response from the Tax Office through this website.

You should go straight to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

James

Locutus Sum left an annotation ()

Please have a look here (https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/f... ) for news from Mr Ben Fairless regarding requests to the Australian Taxation Office.

Please also have a look here (https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/p... ) at my own additional comments about what to do next.

Dear Australian Taxation Office,

This is a request for information under the FOI Act.

I refer to a submission made to the current Senate inquiry into bargaining in the APS. One of your employees states the following in their submission:

"The ATO has a policy of turning off the IVR if there is a danger of statistics not being reached. This dishonest and abhorrent policy is extremely poor service and frustrating for clients. If it looks like the required statistic is not going to be met, the IVR is turned off so clients cannot get through. They get a recorded message. The calls which do not get through are not counted, so the statistic is met and the ATO is satisfied. The client? Well, do they really matter anyway? If they did, the organisation would be properly staffed with well-trained people."

I request the following information:
1. Any documentation which describes policy or practice in switching off IVR for statistical manipulation purposes.
2. Logs which show the dates and times of all downtime for the IVR system during normal operational hours, in addition to explanatory documentation for each occasion of downtime, over the last 2 years.

Yours faithfully,

Ato Nduvho

FOI, Australian Taxation Office

1 Attachment

 
Dear FOI Applicant,
 
Please see the attachment.
 
 
 
Yours faithfully,
 
FOI Team
 
 

show quoted sections

FOI, Australian Taxation Office

1 Attachment

Dear FOI Applicant,
 
Please see attachment.    
 
Regards,
FOI Team
 
 

show quoted sections

Mark R. Diamond left an annotation ()

Why is it that no one has complained about the behavior of the ATO. Having refused for 9 months to process requests filed through Right to Know, they now purport to comply with the law but do not do so. The requirement of s 15(2)(c) of the Act is that a request under FOI "... give details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the applicant (for example, by providing an electronic address to which notices may be sent by electronic communication)". But the ATO doesn't appaer to be doing that, no doubt so as to avoid the possibility that anyone might comment about such notices. Instead, they do not send the notices required by the Act to the applicant. Instead, they send a "meta-notice" (i.e., a notice about where you might find a notice) to the applicant. A complaint (in fact multiple complaints) to the Information Commissioner are warranted.