According to a recent Government Gazette, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) will exchange data, relevant to approximately 58,000 people, with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). The purpose of this Data exchange is to ‘identify whether business sponsors are complying with their sponsorship obligations (eg, paying visa holders correctly) and whether temporary skilled visa holders are complying with their visa conditions (eg, to work only for an approved employer).’
DHA will provide to the ATO biographical details of primary visa holders from the subclass 482 (Temporary Skills Shortage) and subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa programs.
The ATO will then provide to DHA Single Touch Payroll information, for individuals who are found as matches within the ATO’s databases.
The full text of the relevant Gazette notice can be found here.
For those who are interested, the Department of Home Affairs’ privacy policy can be found at: www.homeaffairs.gov.au/privacy.