This year has been like no other in recent living memory. The State of Victoria, and consequently our office, has had to deal with the devastating summer bushfires and then the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Our involvement in both has been focused on providing as much support to those affected as possible by administering a number of government tax and fee relief initiatives. Our staff worked diligently to pitch in and help Victoria and its people, and I believe they have done a magnificent job.
There were a number of initiatives implemented to assist in bushfire relief as well as multiple relief requirements resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. All of these have been implemented effectively and sympathetically, while still managing our normal work.
During the year, the State Revenue Office collected almost $19 billion in revenue and allocated $309.6 million in grants, subsidies, rebates, and payments, including unclaimed money. We also implemented a number of technology changes to make dealing with tax matters much easier. These included the acceptance of almost all land transfer transaction types for electronic conveyancing, including duty payment, the implementation of My Land Tax, and continuous improvements to our website and eBusiness applications. In making these changes we consulted with users to ensure the best results for them.
I am pleased that our customer satisfaction rate continued to be very high and the waiting times for calls are better than most other comparable organisations, both public and private.
The number of staff in our organisation continues to grow along with the workloads, especially in compliance and IT. Our staff retention rate is high, with the average length of stay at the State Revenue Office being 11.2 years. We have a strong focus on training and development so that we can provide our customers with a high quality and accurate service. This year, like many organisations, we have also had to manage staff working from home which, I must say, has gone very well from both a customer point of view and from the feedback we have received directly from our staff.
Overall, there have been many challenges during the year which, like so many others, we have risen to meet. I would like to thank all of our staff for their extraordinary efforts during the year. Hopefully 2021 will not be quite as eventful!
Paul Broderick
CEO and Commissioner of State Revenue Victoria
