The University of Notre Dame Australia will open a new tax clinic that will give vulnerable people greater access to professional tax advice while giving students the opportunity to have authentic workplace experiences.
The Australian Government recently announced that Notre Dame had successfully applied for funding to establish a tax clinic on its Fremantle Campus in March next year.
The clinic will be part of the National Tax Clinic program – an Australian Government initiative that aims to give individuals and small businesses across Australia better access to tax advice.
National Head of the School of Law & Business, Professor Michael Quinlan, said this was an exciting opportunity for Notre Dame to provide students with further work-integrated learning opportunities.
“Notre Dame’s application stood out because of our commitment to engaging with the community and our hybrid model that will allow both business and law students to get involved,” he said.
“The clinic will help people who are not able to access tax advice but will also have strong education and advocacy components to its work. We will also work with Indigenous businesses.
“The most unique element of our application was the governance framework and that our clinic will look to be part of the community in a fuller way with wrap around services with established organisations in the region.”
Tax clinics empower students who are studying tax-related courses to provide free advice and support under the supervision of qualified professionals.
They support eligible people and small businesses that cannot access tax advice because of economic, social or personal factors.
Notre Dame’s tax clinic was one of only five new clinics to be announced after a competitive grant process.