16th International Roundtable on Business Survey Frames Lisbon October 21 25, 2002

16th International Roundtable on Business Survey Frames Lisbon October 21 25, 2002 Session Nº 6 Paper Nº 1 Bill Powell, Australian Taxation Office, Australia The Australian Business Number and Australian Business Register developing and maintaining Whole-of-Government egovernment initiatives 0. Abstract The Australian Government recognises that small business cannot afford the time or expense of dealing with multiple regulatory authorities, including different tiers of government. Government must make regulation as efficient and streamlined as businesses demand of their own operations. More Time for Business (1997) the Australian government s response to the recommendations of the Small Business Deregulation Task Force. Australia s new Australian Business Register (ABR) based around a unique national business identifier called the Australian Business Number (ABN) increases government efficiency at federal, state and local levels. Working in partnership with government and private sector suppliers, the Register has streamlined whole-of-government operations and infrastructure, ensuring the business community benefits from the new egovernment environment. The ABR is at the core of the Australian Government s work on minimising administrative burdens on the business community a key challenge for every country s public administration. The ABR is a register of business identity, providing: A unique identifier for business-to-government and business-to-business interactions the Australian Business Number (ABN); A single point where business can maintain registration details for the use of many government agencies. Our principle is tell once, use many ; Shared infrastructure and data access across all layers of government. This paper broadly describes how Australian Taxation Office (ATO) addressed the challenges of developing the register by collaborating with government and private sector partners. To deliver the ABR, the ATO engaged Accenture to help manage and implement the project and developed a strong strategic alliance with Microsoft in providing cutting edge technology and skills. Public sector partners have provided the development of policy, quality and data standards, as well as service delivery and a close working relationship has been formed with the Australian government s business internet portal, the Business Entry Point (BEP). These arrangements demanded innovations in governance, policy development, stakeholder management and technology. 1. Introduction 1.1 The Australian Business Number (ABN) and the Australian Business Register (the ABR) were major developments introduced by the ATO during 2000 to 2002. Together they support the plan to reform business to government interactions and are seen as the solution for simpler and cheaper transactions between business and government. 1.2 The Small Business Deregulation Task Force's report, Time for Business, identified the need for such a number in 1996. It suggested three initiatives to cut government red tape and reduce the cost of compliance for small businesses - a single business number, a single compliance statement and a single entry point for businesses to access government services. Government accepted these recommendations. 1

1.3 With the passage of A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 in July 1999, the ABN became the new single identifier for business and a key element of the government's framework for a new tax system. As such, it is a mechanism for receiving information from businesses and distributing it within government more efficiently. It is also designed to simplify and reduce the cost of transactions between business and government. 1.4 The ABR is the repository for all ABNs. It contains information supplied by Australian businesses, some of which is available to the public. While the information is protected from unauthorised access and changes, the public can access some core details (for example, to confirm whether a business is registered for the goods and services tax). 1.5 The ATO maintains the ABR, and the Commissioner of Taxation is its Registrar. The ABR is positioned as the cornerstone of a new streamlined registration process that crosses Federal, State and Local Government organisational boundaries and enables all three tiers of government to have a more client focus approach in dealing with its customers. 1.6 Benefits from the ABN and the ABR will be realised over many years. Ultimately, it will reduce the number of government registration and reporting requirements for businesses through a process of streamlining and rationalising government operations and infrastructure. Government will be more efficient; essentially doing more with less the regulatory and administrative burden on business will be lighter, but more effective, and government will project a more seamless, customer-service focuses approach to dealing with the public, its clients. 2. Innovative Government Solutions - Implemented Register of business identity 2.1 The ABR is a register of business identity, which provides: A unique identifier called the ABN for B2G and B2B interactions. A single point where business can maintain registration details maintained by all government departments, based on a tell once use many concept. Self-service registration and maintenance. Shared infrastructure and data across all layers of government. Internet Portal for B2G and G2G 2.2 To meet the business challenges and increasing community demand for integrated, seamless access to government services, the ABR was designed as an integral part of the Australian government Internet portal for business to government (B2G) and government to government (G2G) services and users. 2.3 The ABR uses the centralised government portal for business to communicate with government, known as the Business Entry Point (BEP). 2.4 The ABR has developed infrastructure and processes to facilitate full G2G and B2G for all government agencies interacting with businesses in Australia. Further, to foster cooperation and collaboration with other government agencies, the ABR redefined the way which government agencies operate. The ABR is a dedicated G2G service provider, offering services to other government agencies that operate in the B2G space. 2.5 The ABR is a register designed in the first instance to allow business to update and change their business information online. For example, a business can change its address in one place on the ABR and the change will be automatically broadcast to other government agencies. The aim is to cut down time consuming and duplicative paperwork. Our principle is tell one, use many. 2

Inclusive Whole-of-Government Governance Structures 2.6 Another initiative has been the establishment of governance frameworks, which include representative agencies from all tiers of government. 2.7 The ATO recognised it could not develop a whole-of-government product without input from stakeholders. Agencies were invited to place staff on the ABR project development team to provide input and a governance committee called the ABR Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) was established to oversee policy development. 2.8 The PAC includes senior executives from the ATO, the Business Entry Point, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the Department of Treasury, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Australian Customs Service, the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE), the NSW State Revenue Office, the NSW Office of Information Technology and Queensland Treasury. 2.9 These agencies are committed to the use of the ABR across government and the collective good management of the ABR s future. PAC has addressed policy issues such as privacy, data quality and maintenance, security, and the key principles behind agency accreditation to use the ABR system. Working with individual agencies 2.10 Key agencies continue to play a significant role. The ATO adopted an approach that called in expertise where it already exists enabling the delivery of quality outcomes in tight timeframes. For example, the Business Entry Point is the ABR s key Federal B2G supplier and is the primary channel for the delivery of both the public search facility and the ABR secure transactions to the business client. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has assisted in defining data quality standards for government and sharing expertise on industry coding, while the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) supported the building of a real-time verification process to check company data when entities register for an ABN. National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) has been setting the standards for public key infrastructure (PKI) and establishing a new secure virtual private network (Fedlink) for communication between government agencies. Throughout the development of the ABR, the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner and the Australian Government Solicitor have also significantly contributed. 2.11 The paper named The ABS Business Register maintaining the relationship between the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Taxation Office presented at the 16 th International Roundtable on Business Survey Frames provides further examples of the ATO working with the Australian Bureau of Statistics in developing the ABR. Partnership with the Private Sector to achieve technology outcomes 2.12 The ABR has been an enormous undertaking - there are upwards of 3.5 million businesses in Australia and some 2000 government entities with which business needs to communicate. 2.13 The ATO worked with Accenture to manage and implement the ABR Project. The ATO has also been part of the Microsoft early adopter program for their.net environment. The new technology has set foundations for the ATO to develop improved systems and services to citizens who are increasingly demanding online access to information and transactions. 2.14 The ABR is a re-usable, loosely coupled, object-oriented web-service architecture. The architecture is based on the Microsoft.NET development environment. 2.15 The ATO would not have been able to deliver such a solution without the involvement of our partners. Working with Accenture and Microsoft ensured high-level technology skills were available to get the ABR implemented at its budget of $50m. 3

ATO logo BEP logo B2G Business to Government ATO logo G2G Government to Government Accenture logo Microsoft logo 2.16 The ABR uses PKI and meets the international security standards reflected in the Australian Government s Gatekeeper Policy. It has reusable components in its applications, meaning other government agencies in Australia can reuse the technology developed. One of the features of the ABR is a publishing mechanism to deliver client data to agencies. The Business Entry Point (BEP) will reuse the same components to deliver public data to businesses. The open standards being adopted mean that regardless of their system type, any agency can connect to the system. Interactive Community Consultation 2.17 Business has had a voice in this process right from the start. Government consultation with business was the key driver behind both the ABN and the ABR. 2.18 This consultation continued with the ABR Project conducting a Usability Pilot in 1999 in which representatives of the business community participated in design sessions ensuring the ABR site reflected business needs and values. Regular meetings have also occurred with the ATO s Small Business Advisory Group to ensure two-way information flows on ABR progress, particularly with the small business community. BEP s existing business forums have also been used to elicit feedback on particular issues throughout the development of the ABR. 3. ABR integrity is a cornerstone 3.1 The ATO is conducting a regular program of data maintenance and checking to maintain currency and accuracy of information in the ABR. Registry Division in the ATO, which has operational responsibility for processing ABNs and maintaining the ABR, achieved accreditation under International Organisation for Standardisation, ISO9000. This accreditation is widely recognised and demonstrates that we have an appropriate quality management system in place. 3.2 The success of the ABR relies heavily on the expectation that it will have a reputation as a high quality register. Services supporting data quality will have the same primacy as services delivered directly to clients. Data quality measures, including automated data cleanse activities and real-time verification of the company name on the ABR with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) database, are built into the services. The ATO has an agreement with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the ATO to undertake Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) coding to employer registrations to an agreed quality. A quality level in excess of 90% is regularly maintained. Capturing the correct ANZSIC code is critical to the business 4

of the ATO, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), users of the ABR and many other government agencies. Quarterly quality surveys also provide an indication of data quality results. 3.3 To create and maintain a high quality ABR, quality management is also reflected in the processes and organisation, not just the data in the ABR. Authentication and authorisation processes support the ABR s security requirement to authenticate the identity of existing users when transacting with the ABR. This critical function maintains privacy and data quality. 3.4 The last Federal budget provided about $16 million specifically to address ABR integrity. These funds have been allocated to value-adding integrity activities to ensure the ABR continues to be a high quality register. 4. Benefits and savings 4.1 For government Administrative savings that will accrue to the participating agencies will be in the order of $24 million in year one to $70 million in year 10 through reduced registration and maintenance costs. Reduced registration and maintenance costs in government agencies. Improved data quality for downstream compliance processes. Open messaging standards (XML) and reusable technology. Whole of government integration front-end portal integration and back-end data integration. Better targeting of business clients based on industry identification. Transformation from data entry processing to knowledge management and decision support processes. 4.2 For the ATO. Better alignment of business and technology strategies. Foundations for next generation ATO systems. A multitude of new government partnerships/relationships to expand. Skill sharing with private sector partners. Leading edge technology capabilities. Re-usable application framework. Multi-channel capabilities. 4.3 For the Australian business community. The ABR business case predicts business will reduce compliance costs by $125 per business, based on a reduced need to inform multiple government agencies of changes to details such as address. This is a saving of $400 million nationwide overall by year 10 of the ABR s operation. Single point self-service for business identity and obligation registration. Encourages B2B ecommerce through common identity. More convenient channel for access to government services. Allows better targeting of government service initiatives. 5

5. Next steps to be taken 5.1 The Register aims to provide for seamless processing across government agencies and uses electronic commerce technologies for data exchange. It draws on concepts of customer relationship management, which allow service to be personalised. 5.2 An External Partnerships team in the ATO has been established to develop relationships with agencies that wish to participate and/or gain access to the ABR. Reaction to the ABR has been extremely positive, and the External Partnerships team is currently negotiating with about 40 agencies Australia-wide and several Commonwealth and State agencies have entered into Memoranda of Understanding with the Registrar of the ABR. The memoranda set out mutual expectations and reinforce privacy and security arrangements. Agreements on service levels will also be put in place. 5.3 The ABR is being released through a series of staged releases. Release 1 was launched in July 2001 and Release 2 in June 2002. Progression towards implementing the Register's full functionality and addressing whole-of-government requirements in accordance with the intent of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 and government policy is continuing. 5.4 Further development of the ABR is based on high quality project guidelines. Project management and governance concepts are applied to ensure developments are successfully managed in terms of content, schedule, deliverables, and general progress and integration. Also continuous improvement methodologies are used in collecting feedback from various forums, government agencies, professional bodies and the community to value-add to the ABR. 6. Conclusion 6.1 The Australian Business Number (known as the ABN the one number for government) and the Australian Business Register (ABR) is providing the impetus to move towards full egovernment in Australia. The ABR is highly dependent on whole-of-government processes being implemented in all participating agencies in a timely manner. Ultimately, efficiency and effectiveness benefits to the Australian community includes benefits to government agencies at all levels, in particular, Federal and State registration related agencies. 6