Australian Tax Office Moves Toward Open Standards

An anonymous reader writes "Neat! The Australian Tax Office (the Aussie equivalent of the IRS) has been criticised for being too reliant on Microsoft software and, well, they're doing something about it such as supporting Java runtime for the first time. So maybe I can do my tax return on something more secure than a Windows PC this year?" This makes a good update for our previous post on the office's open source moves.

It all means nothing for the present

[Anonymous Coward]

As I understand it, most of the ATO's electronic services now require the use of a proprietary VPN system, which replaced the previous system that used, among other things, low-speed direct dialup lines (with, if memory serves, required the use of proprietary 'secure' comms software, so no standard PPP anyway).

There's been a huge amount of trouble - both inside the ATO and from it's customers - with this new system. By all measures it's been a very expensive and non-to-successful transition. While the old system was insecure and archaic, there's little evidence that the new one is yet any better.

They were at least planning on resolving the proprietary VPN issues, so that sys admins wouldn't be tearing their hair out trying to get their machines to work with it (which, by the way, required Windows-only software to do)... I imagine they must be close to doing that, if they haven't already.

Still, I don't think the ATO has ever been nor in any near future will be a good example of open standards. I can't reveal all I know, but some of the stories I've heard first hand would make your skin crawl - if you could believe the stupidity in them to start with.