17^th International Atax Tax Administration Conference

On 1 March 2024 Mr Rob Heferen took up his role as Commissioner of Taxation to lead the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Rob has dedicated his career to the Australian Public Service for the last 35 years, beginning in 1989 as a graduate at the Australian Customs Service. Over 35 years, he has accumulated diverse experience across policy development and program delivery in a range of portfolios, as well as representing Australia in international forums including the UN, the IEA and the OECD. For almost 20 years Rob’s interest and expertise in economics and tax policy led him to various roles in the Australian Taxation Office and Commonwealth Treasury, including leading the Secretariat for the Australia’s Future Tax System Review (the Henry Tax Review) and culminating in his role as Deputy Secretary, Revenue Group at the Commonwealth Treasury between 2011-2016, with responsibility for tax policy, tax legislation and revenue forecasting.

Rob’s other Senior Executive roles include Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; Deputy Secretary of Higher Education, Research and International in the Department of Education, Skills and Employment; Deputy Secretary of Energy at the Department of the Environment and Energy (where he served as Australia’s representative on the International Energy Agency’s Governing Board); and Deputy Secretary of Indigenous Affairs at the Department Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. 

Rob is a proven leader of people, with an open, collaborative and authentic style and strong record of achievement in leading organisations to help shape and deliver on Government priorities.

Rob has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Tasmania, and a Graduate Diploma of Economics from the Australian National University. 

Peter Mersi was appointed Commissioner and Chief Executive of Inland Revenue in July 2022.

Prior to this, Peter was the Secretary and Chief Executive for Transport (2016-2022), Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand (2012 – 2016) and spent six months as the Acting Secretary and Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs (2011-2012).

Peter has held senior leadership roles in Inland Revenue and the Treasury, where he spent 14 years primarily working on social policy and the public management system. He has also worked for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Labour, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Bank of New Zealand.

Peter has an economics degree from Victoria University of Wellington.

Along with Gaye Searancke, the Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand, Peter is the Co-Chair of Papa Pounamu, an initiative by Public Sector Chief Executives to support and grow diversity and inclusion in the public sector.

Justice Emilios Kyrou has been a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia since June 2023. At that time, he was also appointed President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Upon the establishment of the Administrative Review Tribunal in October 2024, he became its inaugural President and a member of the Administrative Review Council.

Between May 2008 and July 2014, Justice Kyrou served as a trial judge the Supreme Court of Victoria, and between July 2014 and June 2023 he served as a judge of the Victorian Court of Appeal.

Prior to his judicial appointment, Justice Kyrou was a senior litigation partner at Mallesons.

Justice Kyrou was an inaugural member of the Judicial Council on Diversity and Inclusion. He is the patron of the Australian Greek Welfare Society and the Victorian patron of the Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association.

In the 2023 Australia Day Honours, he was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia ‘for distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, to professional associations, and to the community’.

Ruth has recently been appointed to the role of Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman. This is an independent statutory role contributing to the improvement of the administration of taxation and superannuation and supporting taxpayers and tax practitioners with resolution of their complaints to the ATO or Tax Practitioners’ Board.

Ruth brings a wealth of experience in tax, public administration, complaints management and dispute resolution, having spent more than 30 years in various senior leadership positions across the public sector in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK).

Ruth was previously a Director General and Tax Commissioner of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the UK, Head of Profession for operational delivery in the UK Civil Service and Deputy CEO of Jobcentre Plus, the UK employment service and welfare service delivery agency.

In moving to Australia, Ruth joined EY Advisory as the lead partner in Human Services, providing professional services to Government and community sector clients, including publishing guidance on complaints management and supporting the National Redress Scheme for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

Most recently, Ruth spent over three years in NSW Government, as a Deputy Secretary at Education and then leading the delivery of public sector reform in the NSW Premier’s Department.

Ruth was awarded the CBE in the UK for her public service in reducing unemployment during the GFC.

Jeremy Hirschhorn was appointed to the Second Commissioner role from 16 April 2020. He has overall responsibility for the ATO’s Client Engagement Group, which fosters willing participation in Australia’s tax and super systems through well-designed client experiences.

Jeremy has more than 20 years' experience in roles managing complex tax matters.

As Deputy Commissioner of Public Groups & International from April 2015, Jeremy was responsible for ensuring that the largest Australian and multinational companies were meeting their corporate tax obligations and providing the Australian community with confidence that these large companies were being held to account.

Jeremy also worked as Chief Tax Counsel, with responsibility for the provision of the ATO’s legal advice in relation to interpretation of the tax and super laws, when he joined the ATO in August 2014.

Prior to joining the ATO, Jeremy was a senior partner in KPMG’s tax practice.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser and Chartered Accountant.

Nina E. Olson is the Executive Director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, a nonprofit that works to advance taxpayer rights in the United States and internationally.  From March 2001 to July 2019, Nina served as the National Taxpayer Advocate, leading the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the Internal Revenue Service dedicated to assisting taxpayers resolve their problems with the IRS and making administrative and legislative recommendations to mitigate those problems systemically.  Before serving as the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina founded and directed The Community Tax Law Project, the first independent Low Income Taxpayer Clinic in the US.  She also maintained a private legal practice, representing taxpayers in disputes with the IRS.

Kirsten Fish is ATO Second Commissioner for Law Design and Practice. In this role, Kirsten has overall responsibility for the ATO’s law practice, including law interpretation, public advice and guidance, independent dispute prevention and resolution, and the ATO’s role in policy and law design. The Law Design and Practice Group serves the community, government and clients by ensuring the tax and super laws are informed, understood, administered and applied with confidence and integrity and is the respected and trusted as the authoritative voice of the Commissioner on matters of law and revenue analysis.

Kirsten joined the ATO in 2014 and the ATO’s Chief Tax Counsel from 2015, one of the highest legal authorities within the ATO, leading the Tax Counsel Network and providing technical leadership in relation to significant tax issues, cases and rulings. Kirsten was acting Second Commissioner for 12 months before being formally appointed to the role in October 2021.

Prior to joining the ATO, Kirsten was a tax Partner at Clayton Utz with a focus on the financial services industry and providing finance and investment transaction advice.

Kirsten holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and Masters of Law (Tax).

Jeremy Geale is a senior partner in MinterEllison’s Tax Controversy team with over 25 years’ experience in managing complex tax matters across risk reviews, audits, and litigation. He has held senior roles at the Australian Taxation Office, including Acting Second Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner for Review and Dispute Resolution, and was previously a barrister specialising in tax. Jeremy brings clients unique insights from both sides of tax disputes, advising the ATO, high net worth individuals and major corporations on navigating tax engagements. He is a champion for the use of AI in professional practice, using it to not only reduce costs and improve quality but generate strategic insights and approaches for clients that were never previously possible.

Andrew Watson is Chief Data Officer and Deputy Commissioner Smarter Data Program at the Australian Taxation Office.

In this role, Andrew leads the development and scalable implementation of data analytics, automation, artificial intelligence and insights that support the Australian Taxation Office’s purpose and broader government priorities. This includes ensuring strong and ethical governance processes for our data and analytics holdings, as well as engagement in Australian Public Service wide initiatives.

He has over 30 years experience in the Australian Taxation Office and in that time, Andrew has held a number of key leadership positions in the ATO, including responsibility for the delivery of improved outcomes for individual taxpayers, working closely with tax professionals as key stakeholders in supporting taxpayers to meet their obligations, supporting small businesses and leading technology change.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Adelaide and a Masters of Business Administration (Public Sector Management) from Charles Sturt University.

Rowan is Deputy Commissioner, Small Business in the Australian Taxation Office, with responsibility for the small business, not-for-profit and government taxpayer segments and excise products. As a passionate supporter of inclusion and diversity in the workplace, she is proud to be an ATO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SES champion. She has more than 10 years’ experience as a senior public service executive in service delivery, program management, whole-of-government service delivery transformation, policy and law design roles. She has held public service roles in several Australian government departments and in the UK and spent time in academia.

Steve has been NAB’s Chief Tax Officer since March 2013. He has more than 34 years’ experience in taxation across many business sectors ranging from small business right through to international banking.

Steve holds Bachelor degrees in both Financial Administration and Law, Masters degrees in both Taxation and Law and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. Steve is a past President of The Corporate Tax Association and past member of the Board of Taxation Experts Panel. Steve is also currently Co-Chair of the Large Business Stewardship Group with the ATO’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Groups.