The Tax Office would restrict staff from posting about work events and require them to ask permission before publishing photos of colleagues on their personal social media pages under draft new guidelines.
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In proposed changes to instructions for employees using social media privately, the Australian Taxation Office would direct tax officers to ask colleagues before posting photos of them to social media, while posts with "non-public" information about work activities and events would be off limits.
Staff would also be responsible for content posted to their pages by other people that made them look biased or unprofessional.
The draft social media policy has drawn criticism from the Australian Services Union for going too far in restricting how ATO staff use Facebook, Twitter and similar websites in their personal lives and follows charges of "overreach" levelled at new guidelines released by the public service commission in August.
But the ATO said its consultation had been "robust" and it was considering feedback to finalise the policy.
ASU official Jeff Lapidos told the Tax Office in a letter last week that draft guidelines telling staff to ask colleagues' permission before posting photos "might be sensible, but it should not be mandatory."
"Making it a direction would seem to then require written consent, which is unduly burdensome," he said.
"It should be restricted to asking staff to be considerate of others' feelings in being depicted in such circumstances."
Another guideline directing staff not to make "gratuitous" comments on social media should also be removed from the ATO's social media policy, Mr Lapidos said.
"It would prevent any humour online because humour, almost by definition, is gratuitous," he said.
Restrictions stopping staff posting "personal employee information" or "non-public" information about work events to their personal social media pages went beyond public service legislation that banned workers from improperly using inside information or duties to gain a benefit, or to damage the agency.
The ASU also rejected a guideline that ATO staff using social media privately "maintain the same high standards of professional conduct and behaviour online as would be expected in person."
"The office is telling staff that they must treat their family and friends as if they are clients of the ATO or colleagues at work who are not their friends," Mr Lapidos said.
The ATO said questions from staff about their social media use had prompted the changes, which were also made to align the agency's policy with the Australian Public Service Commission's new guidance and the APS code of conduct.
The ATO has canvassed the changes after the APSC released new social media guidance that could put public servants in breach for "liking" posts on Facebook or Twitter or by sharing negative information or comments in private emails.
New rules warn public servants don't have unlimited rights of free speech, and caution against breaches of the public service code of conduct through criticism of departments, the government and opposition or by expressing negative views on policies.
