Nexus - 0204 - New Times Magazine-pages

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During the same decade, Bankcard made its debut on the Australian scene, several years later the first Automatic Teller Machines (ATM's) came on line. By 1983, almost all bank branches in Australia had on line access to a computer centre. At this stage set up its packet-switch- ing network - Austpac, to deal with EFTPOS transactions. According to "Towards A Cashless Society", "Australia is unique in world terms as many of its point of sales networks have been designed eventually to be part of a national, not merely a local system. Computers owned by the financial institutions are connected to terminals at the point of sale in retail outlets and effectively convert shop counters to electronic bank branches." "Messages between Point Of Sale terminals and bank computers are carried by leased lines through a multiplexer, a device which uses and controls several communications channels simultaneous- ly, both sending and receiving messages. In one mode of opera- tion, the multiplexer is sited in Telecom's Exchange." "Each multiplexer is designed to handle up to 16 Point of Sale terminals which are connected to Telecom's AUSTPAC packet switching network." While Australia was celebrating two hundred years of white set- tlement in 198], the Hawke government quietly proceeded with its "alternative" to the Australia Card; the upgraded Tax File Number system and the Cash Transactions Reports Act. An upgraded Tax File Number was first mooted by the Joint Select Committee on the Australia Card, formed in November 1985. In fact, a majority of the committee, in their report tabled in Parliament on 8th April 1986 recommended "The use of a Tax File Number with enhanced integrity", as a viable alternative to the Australia Card proposal. The Committee's report under a section headed "alternatives" (to the Australia Card) stated... "The use of the Tax File Number will be extended to cover all the financial transactions proposed in the government sub - mission for the Australia Card number by the Australian Taxation Office, as well as for social security." After continual adverse publicity surrounding the Australia Card, in May 1988, the Federal Government began a multi-million dollar public relations and advertising campaign to sell the new Tax File Number system to the public. The campaign was more expensive that nay other PR cam- paigns run by the Hawke government, including the Drug Offensive, and the Aids campaigns. A total of $6.5 million was spent, convincing Australians that the Tax File Number (TFN) system had to be upgraded. The con- tract for PR was awarded to American owned Burson Marsteller, the world's largest advertising agency. From | July 1991, the TFN will be used to help match income reports from banks, building societies, credit unions, companies, cash management and property trusts and other financial institu- tions with details in taxpayers returns. People will be required to quote their TFN where the account will be in existence from 1 July 1991. The requirement to quote TFN applies to all new accounts opened after 1 July 1991. The legislation makes provision for the use of the old TEN to be extended and for new Tax File Numbers to be issued. According to the Treasurer's May 1988 Economic Statement, this new ...their report tabled in Parliament on 8th April 1986 recommended "The use of a Tax File Number with enhanced integrity", as a viable alternative to the Australia Card proposal. scheme would "cleanse" the existing system by identifying false name registrations, for instance where a person has one or more TENs. During evidence give to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs investigating "The Feasibility of a National ID Scheme: The Tax File Number", the committee heard that the Upgraded Tax File Number System has "Uniqueness, permanence, universality, indispensability and arbitrariness as indicators of a national identification scheme, which, according to the US department of Health, Education & Welfare defines as a standard universal identifier". On the 15th June, 1988, the Cash Transactions Reports Act came operational. This Act requires cash transactions above $10,000.00 to be reported by banks to the Cash Transactions Reports Agency for "investigation". Cash "dealers" are described among others, as financial institu- tions; financial corporations; an insurer; securities dealers; future rokers; a trustee or manager of a cash management; property or unit trust and bullion dealers. Clause 87 of the original Australia Card proposal related to the establishment of the Data Protection Agency (DPA). The main unctions of the DPA were to review decisions made by the Australia Card Authority, investigate complaints of the Authority infringing upon a person's privacy, and to publish details of data- ases containing personal information held by Commonwealth bodies. The Senate Standing Committee investigating the Feasability of a National ID Scheme: the Tax File Number, also reviewed the Privacy Act, which was passed on the 14th December 1988... In its report, the Committee stated that its investigations were circumvented by the Government. Confidential copies of the Privacy Bill were supplied to the Shadow Attorney General so that discussions could take place behind closed doors, rather than let- ting the bill "lie on the table" in parliament. Neither the public nor the Senate Standing Committee were allowed access to the amend- ments. The committee was not only denied access to the Privacy Bill 1988, as well, the Attorney General's Department failed to appear at the Committee's public hearings to answer questions. The 1988 Privacy Act defines certain records which are subject to the Act. The legislation defines a record as "(a) a document, (b) a database, however kept, and (c) a photograph or other pictorial representation of a person. NEXUS - 15 THE "UPGRADED" TAX FILE NUMBER JULY/AUGUST 1991 + YEAR BOOK CASH TRANSACTIONS REPORT ACT