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 ahead of 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.
Workplace Reforms Targeted
Brunne is relying on the Albanese government's workplace reforms, designed to stop employers using labour hire firms to pay workers less than direct employees doing largely the same work. Those reforms are now being used against the government's chief revenue collection agency, which is particularly reliant on outsource arrangements through the use of three private call centre operators.
'The pay gap is not marginal, it is structural and widens at higher classification levels,' Brunne said in his submission to the Fair Work Commission, released by the tribunal to Guardian Australia. 'This is the direct consequence of routing equivalent work through a lower-paying intermediary, and is precisely the kind of wage arbitrage [the reform] was enacted to address.'
If the application is successful, the call centres will be forced to pay the same rates as ATO staff covered by a public sector agreement, potentially making the outsource model unviable for the tax office and other government agencies. The hearings are expected to start late next month.
Legal Argument
The legal argument is likely to turn on whether the ATO's use of outsource call centres is an attempt to access labour hire on cheaper rates, or represents a genuine separate service. That question partly relies on how much the job functions and systems overlap between the ATO and its three outsource call centres, run by Probe, the US-listed Concentrix Services and the British multinational Serco.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which joined the proceedings to support Brunne, said in its submission the call centres did not provide an 'identifiable and discrete service to the ATO'. The outsource workers 'perform their work entirely within and through the ATO's systems' which includes using tax office-issued scripts and instructions, the agency's call management platforms, and the tax office's workplace policies and procedures, according to the CPSU. Brunne said outsource workers also represented themselves to the public as ATO workers.
Representatives of Probe, Concentrix and Serco declined to comment. Probe's legal counsel has told the Fair Work Commission the company provides a service and that a 'same job, same pay' order would not be fair and reasonable. An ATO spokesperson declined to comment. The tax office has not taken a formal position, but is expected to be involved in the hearings.
Call Complaints
Brunne lodged his Fair Work application last year while working at Probe. He said he was partly motivated by a 2025 ruling that required the mining company BHP to boost the pay of thousands of subsidiary workers at its coalmines in line with direct employees. He has since left Probe but still works in the wider services sector.
Brunne's Fair Work submissions say that a frontline outsource call centre worker earns $28.12 an hour compared with $39.35 for the equivalent worker in the public service. The rates rise to $30.68 an hour for a team leader at an outsource centre, compared with $52.75 for an equivalent role at the ATO.
There has been increased scrutiny on the ATO's outsourced arrangements amid a surge in complaints. Last year, the tax ombudsman reviewed the ATO's practices in response to rising complaints from tax agents about what they described as a deteriorating call centre service. Separately, taxpayer complaints against the ATO have surged by 127% over the past 12 months, according to the ombudsman, amid a shift by the agency towards tougher debt collection practices to rein in large, outstanding sums. Late last year the ATO disclosed that it had referred more than 355,000 taxpayers to the private debt collector Recoveriescorp since the start of 2024.
