Information Sharing – Protecting vulnerable visa holders
SUMMARY OF CONSULTATION PROCESS

Taskforce Cadena was established for the purposes of reducing visa fraud, illegal work and the exploitation of foreign workers in Australia. A major purpose of Taskforce Cadena is to protect the public finances of Australia, including by deterring visa fraud, fraudulent phoenix activity, and unlawful employer and labour hire practices. 
A draft version of the Taxation Administration Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Regulation 2016 was released for public consultation on 4 January 2016. This Regulation proposed to amend the Taxation Administration Regulations 1976 to add Taskforce Cadena to the list of prescribed taskforces. This would allow taxation officers to disclose protected information to taskforce officers in Taskforce Cadena. 
Consultation process
Consultation on the draft Regulation was conducted between 4 and 22 January 2016. Three submissions were received. 
Submissions can be viewed on the Treasury website. 
Summary of key issues 
The submissions were generally supportive of the changes proposed by the Regulation. Some concerns were raised about the privacy of vulnerable visa holders; however the Government considers that the privacy of these visa holders will be protected by existing safeguards in the Privacy Act 1988 and the Taxation Administration Act 1953. 
No changes were made to the Regulation as a result of consultation. 
Feedback
Feedback on the consultation process for this measure can be forwarded to consultation@treasury.gov.au.  Alternatively, you can contact Ashlea King on (02) 6263 2993.
Thank you to all participants in the consultation process.