The Government on Friday 24.1.14 announced that the Australian Valuation Office (AVO) will close and will cease to provide services by 30 June 2014. [The Tax Office manages the business operations of the AVO.] The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Steven Ciobo said the AVO had become unsustainable and was expected to incur losses of up to $4m this financial year. A compelling case for the Commonwealth providing its own valuation services no longer exists, particularly given there is a highly competitive market of private sector providers, Mr Ciobo said. The ATO will work with affected employees and manage the wind-down period for the organisation, with up to 198 staff to be offered redundancies.
Source: Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer media release, 24 January 2014
[LTN 16, 24/1/14]