The ATO is meant to be bringing work back in-house. But its target to cut consultants is ‘woefully inadequate’

The tax ombudsman has noted that ATO staff turnover rates are extreme at the outsource centres, leading to a lack of suitably skilled staff taking calls. Photograph: Wavebreakmedia Ltd/Getty Images/Wavebreak Media

The Australian Taxation Office is aiming to reduce its outsourced work by $500,000 this financial year within its $4.5bn annual operating budget, a figure so small the union says it presumed it was a typo.

Senator Barbara Pocock said the amount, revealed after a Senate Estimates hearing, was “woefully inadequate” for a major agency that should be leading the way on reducing reliance on contractors and consultants.