Tax Office employee faces child abuse, corruption charges
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An Australian Taxation Office (ATO) staff member has been charged with corruption-related offences and possessing alleged child abuse material on some devices.
Editor's note: This story first appeared on HR Leader's sister brand, Accountants Daily.
Following a joint investigation between the ATO, National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the man from Gold Coast ATO, 32, is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on 21 September after being charged with two counts of unlawful disclosure of information by a Commonwealth officer contrary to section 122.4(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
The maximum penalty for this offence is two years’ imprisonment.
It is alleged that the employee disclosed information he obtained in his capacity as a public official to organised crime associates.
Investigators executed a search warrant at a Surfers Paradise home yesterday, where they seized multiple electronic devices, including mobile phones, which will undergo further specialist forensic examination.
Furthermore, during the search, police identified alleged child abuse material on some devices, and the man was also charged with two counts of possessing child abuse material contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code.
He was also charged with 15 counts of using a carriage service for child abuse material.
The maximum penalty for both offences is 15 years’ imprisonment.
The employee has been suspended from duty without remuneration.
The charges form a part of the ongoing Operation Esk-Jerboa, which is a joint investigation between the ATO, AFP, and the NACC.
Acting NAC commissioner Kylie Kilgour highlighted that while the charges relating to child abuse material are not corrupt conduct under the NACC Act, the material was discovered as part of this investigation.
She said the investigation showed that the NACC will take strong action if Commonwealth public officials misuse official information.
“In this investigation, the corrupt conduct we are alleging has occurred in an abuse of office and misuse of information by a public official,” Kilgour said.
“These are two of the four types of corrupt conduct under the NACC Act. It is also a criminal offence.”
ATO deputy commissioner Nicholas Shizas said the alleged conduct of the employee is “despicable”, adding that the investigation demonstrates that the ATO has zero tolerance for corruption.
“It is a disservice to the over 20,000 dedicated and honest ATO employees who carry out their duties with professionalism and integrity,” he said.
“The ATO has highly sophisticated and effective mechanisms in place to detect fraud and corruption and will continue to work with law enforcement and other government agencies to identify corruption or criminality and bring those individuals before the court.”
The NACC has secured 12 convictions since its commencement in July 2023, with five of these cases before the courts, it said.
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