# Australia: myTax, myGov, GO GET ROOTED. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 3, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124 "2015-07-03T07:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/1 "2015-07-03T07:22:15Z")
Soooo, the Aussie gummint has introduced some new online services. They suck. I tried to change my address yesterday, and they turned me into a BLOKE for goodness sakes! Heaven forbid if you want to do your tax return…☹ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/2 "2015-07-03T09:14:31Z")
In the early days they were a bit dodgy. Then they improved. Then they got more popular and prone to crashing. Poorly designed, too flashy where they should be simple, and too old and creaky where they should be slick. Typical government bollocks, basically. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/3 "2015-07-03T09:32:47Z")
MyGov is one of the worst steaming piles of user-unfriendly crap it’s ever been my displeasure to have to navigate. First time I had to go through that stupid new Windows-Eight-y Centerlink interface it took me fifteen minutes to figure out how to get to the information I actually wanted, and I’ve got a degree in Computer Science FFS! I really don’t know how they expect some NESB granny or a teenage parent to navigate that monstrosity. It’s kicked me out I don’t know how many times because I can never remember whether I told them I grew up on BlahBlah Rd or BlahBlah Road, or whether my childhood hobby was art or painting(\*) And it dies more often than Candy Crush. It’s down right now in fact. Pile of fetid dingoes kidneys. I endorse this pitting. \*Examples totally made up, BTW 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/4 "2015-07-04T16:33:25Z")
Is “rooted” what I think it means? ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/5 "2015-07-04T18:31:10Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Is “rooted” what I think it means? Say it in the voice of Angry Anderson, and it’ll all make sense. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/6 "2015-07-06T03:53:02Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Is “rooted” what I think it means? Quite. Much hilarity ensues every time we hear an American declare they are rooting for their team. 😃 As to the mygov stuff, despite its deficiencies you must admit it is probably better than having to stand in at Centrelink for 3 hours. Didn’t the whole system crash a couple of days ago because it couldn’t handle the traffic from everyone getting ready to do their tax returns? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/7 "2015-07-06T13:42:45Z")
> [@black\_rabbit](#): > > Say it in the voice of Angry Anderson, and it’ll all make sense. That’s true of almost anything, really. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/8 "2015-07-06T18:48:34Z")
> [@black\_rabbit](#): > > Say it in the voice of Angry Anderson, and it’ll all make sense. Great. Now all I have to do is figure out who _that_ is. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/9 "2015-07-06T18:58:25Z")
[He’s… well, you’ll know him when you see him.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtV6RxeYfKg) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/10 "2015-07-06T19:19:43Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I tried to change my address yesterday, and they turned me into a BLOKE for goodness sakes! Let this be an example to Americans. Here we’re stuck in all these debates over transgender issues. And in Australia you can get it done online. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/11 "2015-07-07T03:50:24Z")
It’s all crap. I’m old enough to remember when the income tax form was a single sheet of foolscap\* paper. Then they replaced it with the “user-friendly” tax pack. A move that spawned a generation of $35 tax accountants\*\*. Now it’s all on computer, and you can pay a “tax accountant” to enter it into the computer for you, because when they say “user-friendly” they mean it makes you want to go back on the gear. \*Like Letter, only twice as long. \*\*Because you didn’t need to know anything about tax, the $35 is just to fill out the form. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/12 "2015-07-07T03:56:38Z")
I don’t mind it. I download the program on the 1st of July, fill in my income and deductions and have a few thousand dollars spending money in the bank within a week. I was a bit late with it this year so must have missed the troubles. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/13 "2015-07-07T06:19:10Z")
The new online tax form is simplified to the point where it took me five minutes to do last year. Granted my income was less than $7k because my life fell apart, but even so it shaved off 20 minutes of faffing about. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/14 "2015-07-07T13:00:04Z")
Silver linings! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-mytax-mygov-go-get-rooted/724124/15 "2015-07-07T18:24:59Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Quite. Much hilarity ensues every time we hear an American declare they are rooting for their team. 😃 In recent thread about getting superuser access on Android phones, an Aussie mentioned how funny it was to him or her that we called the process “rooting our phones”…