Chris Jordan AO was appointed as the 12th Commissioner of Taxation on 1 January 2013. Chris joined the ATO with broad and lengthy experience in tax policy and law development and implementation, having held influential roles in the private sector and as an advisor to both Labor and Coalition governments.

He was Chair of the Board of Taxation from June 2011 to December 2012 and a member of the Board since its inception in 2000. He also served as Chair of the Business Tax Working Group in 2011–2012 and as Chair of the New Tax System Advisory Board from 1999-2001. He was a member of the group that consulted with the mining industry about the resource rent tax in 2011–12.

Chris has more than 40 years of experience in the tax profession; starting his accounting career with the firm Arthur Andersen in 1979, spending a few years as a senior lecturer in taxation at Sydney’s University of Technology and then working at KPMG for more than 25 years. From 1995 to 2000, he was Partner in Charge of the NSW Tax and Legal Division of KPMG and from 2001 to 2012 was Chairman of Partners for KPMG NSW.

Chris has a Master of Laws (Sydney University) and Bachelors of Commerce and Law (University of NSW). He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Chartered Tax Adviser with The Tax Institute.

In 2005, he was recognised in the Queens Birthday honours as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for the provision of high-level advice to government in relation to the development and implementation of taxation legislation and reform of Australia’s taxation system.

In 2022, he received an honorary doctorate in Business from UNSW in recognition of his service to the community and his role as a leader and innovator in the Australian Public Service.