The tax office conducted only a “superficial” internal investigation of whistleblower Richard Boyle’s concerns about its disturbing treatment of debtors before he took his concerns public, the Senate has heard.
Boyle, a former public servant based in Adelaide, blew the whistle on extraordinary practices at the Australian Taxation Office in 2018 through a joint ABC-Fairfax investigation into the controversial use of garnishee notices to claw back debts from taxpayers and business.
The practice, which destroyed the livelihoods of smaller businesses, raised questions about whether the ATO was acting fairly and ethically in its pursuit of debtors.
Early last year, Boyle was charged with 66 offences, including allegedly recording phone calls and copying and disclosing taxpayer information.
He has pleaded not guilty and faces a lengthy jail stint if convicted.
On Thursday a short one-page document was tabled in the Senate about a recent secret hearing of the Senate economics legislation committee.
The committee wanted to know how the ATO had handled an internal public interest disclosure Boyle made to the agency in October 2017, well before he went public.
Boyle’s attempts to blow the whistle internally were rejected by the ATO.
The committee ordered the ATO to produce documents showing what it did to investigate Boyle’s disclosure, and heard evidence in secret.
It could not release detail of what it heard, but in a statement to the Senate said the investigation appeared to have been “superficial”.
“Based on the evidence received from witnesses, and in particular from the commonwealth ombudsman, the committee is concerned that the standard of the ATO’s investigation could appear to the public to be superficial in addressing the serious concerns raised by ATO whistleblowers,” the committee’s chair, senator Slade Brockman, said.
Crossbench senator Rex Patrick also sat on the committee. He tabled a document on Thursday saying that if the ATO had conducted an investigation of Boyle’s disclosure that was more thorough than “superficial”, the whistleblower would not have turned to the taxation watchdog, the inspector general of taxation, a month later.
Patrick said Boyle would not have gone to the IGT, would not have taken part in the ABC’s Four Corners program in April 2018, and would not have been charged in January 2019 had the ATO properly investigated his complaint in the first place.
“This is the important point,” Patrick told the Senate. “The ATO’s investigation was superficial. But for the superficial nature into Mr Boyle’s public interest disclosure, those other events that followed, that being the complaint to the IGT, the media programs, the charges and so forth, would never have occurred.
“If the ATO had only done its job properly, none of the alleged activities, they’re alleged at this stage, would have occurred and in my view the tax office would have been in a much better situation.”
The ABC has previously reported that the ATO sought to offer a financial payment in February 2018 to settle with Boyle about an alleged breach of the public service code of conduct.
But it was only offered on the condition that he not speak about his experiences. Boyle rejected that offer.
An ATO spokeswoman said the agency welcomed the Senate’s scrutiny. She noted the committee had opted not to investigate its handling of the whistleblower complaint further.
“The ATO is committed to supporting the making of public interest disclosures, protecting those who make disclosures and ensuring appropriate action is taken,” she said. “To that end we regularly review our procedures and continue to raise awareness of the scheme and how to make a disclosure.”
