INTHEBLACK September 2021 - Magazine - Page 34
F E AT U R E
// TA X C L I N I C S
Right: Tax clinics run by Charles Darwin
University in session at a shopping centre
in 2019.
“ W H AT W E ’ R E S E E I N G W I T H T H E
C L I E N T S W E H E L P I S T H AT I T I S O F T E N
P R O B L E M S B E Y O N D A N I N D I V I D U A L’ S
C O N T R O L T H AT H AV E L E D T O T H E I R
C I R C U M S TA N C E S . . . A N D T H I N G S T H AT
A R E N O F A U LT O F T H E I N D I V I D U A L .”
DR ANN KAYIS-KUMAR, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
SUPPORT FOR UNMET NEEDS
Following a review of the well-established Low Income
Taxpayer Clinics in the US, and with the Curtin Tax
Clinic pilot program deemed a success, in late 2018 the
Australian Government committed to a year-long trial
of the National Tax Clinic program.
Ten major universities across Australia were given
a budget of A$100,000 each to establish and operate
the clinics, with accounting and law students studying
taxation offering pro bono advice and assistance under
the close supervision of qualified tax professionals.
The universities were offered the freedom to develop
their own delivery models, on the condition they
provided the “unrepresented taxpayer” four key services
– advice, representation, education and advocacy.
One of the first national clinic launches was at the
University of New South Wales (UNSW), under
the leadership of Dr Ann Kayis-Kumar, associate
professor with the School of Accounting, Auditing and
Taxation, and co-founders Michael Walpole, taxation
law professor, and Gordon Mackenzie, adjunct senior
lecturer at the Australian School of Business.
For its client base, the UNSW Tax Clinic relies
almost exclusively on “warm referrals” – those coming
from financial counsellors, community legal centres,
charities and other social services.
Kayis-Kumar says that, while tax may be what brings
clients through the door, the clinic model feeds back
into the social services sector to support other unmet
needs. For example, some are struggling to afford food
or transport.
A national survey of financial counsellors conducted
by the UNSW Tax Clinic has found that, regardless of
34 ITB September 2021
a client’s geographical location, 30 per cent to
40 per cent of those seeking help from a financial
counsellor also have an unmet tax need. This means
there are between 60,000 and 80,000 financially
vulnerable people whose tax issues are unaddressed
each year.
PSYCHOLOGICAL BURDEN, EASED
Screening and secondary research conducted by the
UNSW Tax Clinic has identified that their clients are
three times more affected by mental health problems
than the general population. They also have a high
proportion of women experiencing domestic violence
and have an over-representation of Indigenous clients
and culturally and linguistically diverse clients.