Health Minister Daniel Andrews has asked the ATO to defer implementation an ATO ruling that affects the capacity for employees of stand-alone CHCs to continue salary package from 31 March 2008.

During the deferral the Victorian Government is to review the governance of CHCs in relation to the particular matters that lead to the ATO’s ruling.

Unions have written to the Health Minister seeking that the government underwrite the potential FBT liability for the CHCs during the deferral so that CHCs can continue to salary package while the governance review is occurring without concerns about retrospective liability. We will maintain a watching brief.