In a submission to a review of the mandatory data retention regime, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has reiterated its request to be included in the list of government agencies able to obtain warrant-free access to telecommunications metadata. According to ComputerWorld, after the data retention act came into effect in 2015, the ATO was one of the agencies deprived of access to metadata that sought government authorisation to resume requesting it from telcos. The Australian reports that the ATO said it had a demonstrated ongoing operational need for telecommunications data in order to effectively administer the taxation and superannuation system which are directly related to the protection of public revenue. ZDNet adds that the loss of access to metadata cost the ATO an average of AU$10 770 per investigation, according to the agency.