Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Staff and students from the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University in my electorate have been operating a pro bono tax clinic which provides independent tax services to assist those who are deemed vulnerable in our community. Over the past three years, with the aid of a $180,000 federal grant, 80 volunteer students have provided more than 3,000 hours of service and lodged more than a thousand tax returns on behalf of more than 400 community members in Joondalup and Carnarvon. Members of the public have been assisted in completing their taxation returns, including seniors and pensioners; new immigrants, international students and those with language barriers; community members suffering from medical conditions; victims of domestic violence; Indigenous people; and those under financial hardship, including single parents, the unemployed and prisoners recently released into the community.

I would like to commend the staff from the School of Business and Law—executive dean Professor Maryam Omari, associate dean Associate Professor Joshua Aston and tax clinic supervisor Associate Professor Prafula Pearce—for their exemplary work in establishing the ECU Tax Clinic to serve our community.