Australian Taxation Office outsource workers paid 40% less in Fair Work case
Workers answering australian taxation office phone lines through outsourced call centres are paid up to 40% less than public service staff doing the same work, a submission to the Fair Work Commission says. Former ATO call centre worker Nathan Brunne says the gap is widest in senior roles, where team leaders at outsource operators are paid about $31 an hour compared with more than $52 at the tax office.
The commission has received submissions ahead of same job, same pay hearings expected to start late next month. The case tests whether the ATO’s use of three private call centre operators can remain outside the workplace reform framework that was designed to stop employers using labour hire to pay less for largely the same work.
Nathan Brunne submission
Brunne said the pay difference runs through the structure of the outsourced model, not just entry-level roles. In his submission to the Fair Work Commission, he wrote: “The pay gap is not marginal, it is structural and widens at higher classification levels”.
He also wrote: “This is the direct consequence of routing equivalent work through a lower-paying intermediary, and is precisely the kind of wage arbitrage [the reform] was enacted to address.”
His filing gives the dispute a concrete pay point. Team leaders on the outsourced side are paid about $31 an hour, while the tax office rate is more than $52 an hour.
Probe, Concentrix Services, Serco
The ATO uses three private call centre operators: Probe, Concentrix Services and Serco. That arrangement sits at the center of the argument now before the commission, because the work is being carried out on the same phone lines even though the pay scales differ sharply.
The Community and Public Sector Union told the commission the call centres did not provide an identifiable and discrete service to the ATO. It said outsource workers perform their work entirely within and through the ATO’s systems, a description that points directly to the legal question at issue.
Probe’s legal counsel told the commission the company provides a service and said a same job, same pay order would not be fair and reasonable. That leaves the commission to weigh whether the outsourced call centres are separate service providers or part of the same work arrangement the reforms were meant to catch.
Fair Work Commission hearings
The hearing timetable now matters for workers on both sides of the divide. The commission has already received submissions, and the same job, same pay hearings are expected to begin late next month.
If the commission accepts the union’s argument, outsourced ATO call centre workers could be brought closer to public service rates for the same duties. If it accepts Probe’s position, the current pay gap across the ATO’s outsourced call lines is likely to remain in place while the case moves on.
