Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank those senators who have contributed to this debate on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Employer Register) Bill 2017. The government recognises that working holiday-makers are an important part of Australia's tourism industry and a key source of labour, particularly in the agriculture, horticulture, tourism and hospitality sectors.

This bill ensures the details of the working holiday-maker employer register are not made public, and it restores provisions regarding information sharing between the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman to what they were prior to the changes made by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Reform) Act 2016. All employers of working holiday-makers will still be required to register with the Australian Taxation Office. Registered employers will be able to withhold tax at the new working holiday-maker tax rate of 15 per cent from the first dollar of income up to $37,000. Once registered, employers can advise current and prospective working holiday-maker employees that they are registered and are able to withhold tax at the new working holiday-maker tax rate of 15 per cent from the first dollar of income up to $37,000.

The register addresses concerns about the exploitation of working holiday-makers and will provide valuable data on who employs working holiday-makers, what sectors they are engaged in and where employers are located. This amendment does not affect the requirement for the Australian Taxation Office to report this information annually to the Treasurer for presentation to the parliament. This reporting process involves aggregate employer information and will not identify any working holiday-maker employers.

This bill also restores provisions regarding information sharing between the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman to what they were prior to the changes made by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Reform) Act 2016. Information sharing between the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman will be limited to situations where an entity is actually or reasonably suspected of noncompliance with the tax law. This bill is part of a broader package of reforms to ensure that Australia remains an attractive and safe destination for working holiday-makers, and I commend the bill to the Senate.