Hi, I am an autistic person wanting to communicate with the ATO via email. I have auditory processing difficulties which make interpreting information over the phone difficult, and this creates a lot of anxiety. I know I cannot get specific advice/help here or via social media channels, so how can I communicate with a customer service representative via email to help me with account specific things?
You don't. If phone call isn't something you can do, then likely it would be to write to ATO
https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/contact-us/write-to-us
Yeah, i'm not writing a letter and putting it in the post. That's ridiculous.
As a disabled person, I have a right to access information and communications on an equal basis with others. Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031, organisations are required to provide reasonable adjustments to facilitate this.
Communicating with a government agency via physical post about potentially time sensitive matters is not an 'equal basis'. It is fundamentally different in nature to email (or other secure electronic messaging options) both in the time it takes for the communication to be received, processed and responded to and the physical barriers and effort involved in communicating in this manner.
But anyway, thanks for the suggestion. 👍
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