Australia
National Context
The Australian Government is promoting eInvoicing to deliver efficiency, productivity, and digitalisation benefits for Australian business and the Australian economy.
eInvoicing is not mandatory for Australian businesses, but there are some mandates for government agencies.
While the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is the Australian Peppol Authority (APA), tax compliance is not the driver for eInvoicing in Australia and the ATO does not have access to eInvoices being transmitted via the Peppol network.
Federal, state and territory governments have taken action to lead and promote the adoption of eInvoicing in Australia:
From 1 January 2020 federal agencies began paying eligible eInvoices within 5 days
- Digital Business Plan – federal government agency mandate
By 1 July 2022 all federal government agencies must be able to receive eInvoices
- Digital Economy Strategy – increase awareness and adoption
Investment into education activities to improve business awareness of eInvoicing and adoption.
- State and territory governments are also taking action to implement eInvoicing
- State and territories are progressing implementation
- New South Wales has a mandate for all NSW agencies to be using eInvoicing by 1 January 2021
About the use of Peppol
In 2018, the Australian and New Zealand governments entered into the Australia and New Zealand Government Electronic Invoicing Arrangement for a common approach to eInvoicing.
In 2019, recognising the benefits of a global framework, the Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers announced the adoption of the Peppol Interoperability Framework.
Australia and New Zealand established separate Peppol Authorities; however, the two authorities work closely in partnership to streamline operations, maximise consistency and reduce costs for stakeholders.
Peppol Authority
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) became the Australian Peppol Authority (APA) on behalf of the Australian Government on 31 October 2019. New legislation was passed to enable the ATO to administer eInvoicing.
Functions of the APA include:
- defining Australian requirements and managing localised specifications for use of the Peppol standards (e.g. GST)
- accreditation of Peppol Service Providers (SPs) for Australia
- supporting and ensuring accredited SP adhere to Peppol and local requirements
- educating, promoting, and supporting the adoption of Peppol
- supporting and engaging with the wider Peppol community
- engaging countries in the region to promote Peppol and maximise interoperability and alignment.
Use of Peppol in Australia
Australia-specific requirements
The APA has defined specific requirements for SPs providing Access Point (AP) or Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) services in Australia, including the mandatory registration of end users in the Peppol Directory. These are contained in:
These are contained in the Peppol Authority Specific Requirements, which can be found in the Library here.
Accreditation
The APA has an accreditation framework for SPs providing AP or SMP services in Australia to ensure both Australian and international SPs meet the requirements to operate in Australia.
- Australian SPs are to follow the accreditation process for new Peppol service providers
- SPs already accredited with another PA can follow a streamlined accreditation process
- Australia and New Zealand also have mutual recognition of accreditation.
A-NZ specifications
eInvoice: Australia and New Zealand have localised Peppol BIS Billing to ensure invoices that adhere to Australian and New Zealand tax and business requirements can be exchanged using Peppol:
- A-NZ Peppol BIS Billing (invoice) specification (mandatory)
- A-NZ self-billing specification (optional).
A-NZ specifications and associated guidance notes are on the A-NZ Peppol GitHub
eProcurement: The Peppol eProcurement specifications can be used in Australia.
eDelivery: All participants on the Peppol network must adhere to the Peppol eDelivery Network Specifications.
Current developments
The APA is undertaking the following activities to promote and foster adoption:
- education activities to raise business awareness and adoption, including a media campaign
- supply chain pilots with large businesses to gain insights and increase adoption
- engagement and partnering with stakeholders representing key economic sectors to champion and drive adoption economy wide
- increasing public sector adoption:
- federal government agency adoption by 1 July 2022
- supporting and encouraging state, territory, and local government adoption
- working with payment providers to improve the payment experience with eInvoices.
Further information
Australian Peppol Authority | ATO Software Developers
E-invoicing | Australian Taxation Office
Useful links
Accreditation process for new Peppol service providers
Established Peppol service provider accreditation process
A-NZ GitHub – document and specifications repository
Peppol.eu including network and message specifications
Contact and support
Australian Peppol Authority:
E-mail: eInvoicing@ato.gov.au
Page last updated: 3rd December 2021