The State Revenue Office has achieved a great deal over the past year. We have: collected and processed $18.5bn in revenue which is used to benefit all Victorians; distributed $165.5m in First Home Owner Grant assistance; improved our customer services and offered new payment options; implemented new government initiatives; and spent a great deal of time and effort in developing our staff.
Overall it has been a challenging year, especially with the preparation to implement the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Service Levy, the Vacant Residential Land Tax and a number of other legislative changes. We also had to deal with an 18 per cent increase in calls to our Customer Contact Centre as well as significant increases in objections and private rulings.
I am pleased to say that we met 22 of 23 key performance indicators that we measure during the year and achieved a customer satisfaction rate of 96 per cent, which we were very pleased with.
Because we understand that private rulings are an important service providing taxpayers with greater certainty in relation to complex transactions, we have been focussing on turning them over as quickly as possible. As a result, this year, 94 per cent of private rulings were completed in 90 days against a target of 80 per cent in 90 days.
Our staff survey indicated a high degree of satisfaction in working at the State Revenue Office. People stay with us for an average of 12 years and we have the highest job satisfaction rate of our comparator group within our biennial staff survey. This experience and stability helps to provide taxpayers with a high standard of customer service no matter who they are talking to within our organisation.
During the year, we have also improved our communications with taxpayers by providing even more webinars and face-to-face seminars as well as constantly updating our website and SRO Mobile options.
Finally, I would like to thank the management and staff of the State Revenue Office for doing their very best to provide taxation services that are fair, efficient and deliver benefits for all Victorians.
Paul Broderick
CEO and Commissioner of State Revenue Victoria