ATO outsource call centre workers paid 40% less than public service peers, Fair Work submission claims

Workers at the Australian Taxation Office’s outsource call centres are paid up to 40% less than public service counterparts, a Fair Work Commission submission says. Photograph: simonkr/Getty Images

Workers at the Australian Taxation Office’s outsource call centres are paid up to 40% less than their public service counterparts on the same phone lines, according to submissions lodged in the lead-up to landmark “same job, same pay” hearings.

The pay gap, detailed by Nathan Brunne, a former worker on the ATO phone lines employed by the private equity-backed Probe Operations, widens at more senior call centre roles, with team leaders at outsource operators paid about $31 an hour compared with more than $52 at the tax office.