STATEMENT
Officers involved in technical work must use the electronic technical support systems provided. Such use is not optional.
The need to use the electronic technical support systems is to be reflected in the performance agreements of all staff, including SES, who are required to use them. In addition performance agreements of staff, including SES, who have direct or indirect management responsibilities for such staff, need to reflect the requirement that they are responsible for ensuring that their subordinates are using these systems.
Regular feedback is to be given by managers not only on a group basis, but also, where necessary, on an individual basis, with appropriate action being taken for non compliance. The word "managers" is used in its broadest sense to include site directors and segment leaders.
Each business line is required to monitor the level of compliance with this Law Administration Practice Statement through its internal reporting mechanisms.
In addition, each business line's representative on the Technical Excellence Forum will keep that forum informed of the level of compliance, including remedial action that has been taken.
EXPLANATION
Significant progress has been made in the provision of electronic technical support systems to assist in tax technical decision making, including the management and actioning of casework, the sharing of information on interpretative issues currently under consideration and the building of databases for internal and external use.
These systems continue to be upgraded to cater for increased demands and to make them easier to use. Some, ATOlaw for example, are at the leading edge of this form of technology.
All are designed to enable us, among other things, to meet the standards spelt out in the Taxpayers' Charter, especially those relating to the quality of our work, including the timeliness of our responses.
Given the decentralised nature of our operations, accurate and consistent technical decision making is greatly dependent on the use of these systems.
To be a truly professional organisation, sharing our technical knowledge, helping one another to solve issues, monitoring our performance, etc., we must have a disciplined approach to processing our work.
The electronic technical support systems, to which this Law Administration Practice Statement relates, include • Case management - CaMRA, CASES, Cicada, SIGNUM • Case actioning - ATO legals, CRS • Information sharing - grapeVINE • Information retrieval - ATO law • Other case management and case actioning systems in operation in some lines to specifically cover casework with an audit/compliance flavour.