What we do matters
What we do matters because each year, as thousands of individuals fail to lodge their tax returns, often not out of neglect, but due to barriers such as health issues, traumas, financial hardship, low tax literacy, limited access to tax services, language challenges, or fear of engaging with the system.
The consequences can be significant, including escalating debt, penalties, loss of entitlements, and ongoing financial stress.
By providing accessible, free support, the National Tax Clinic program plays a critical role in breaking this cycle. We are not only helping individuals meet their obligations, but also rebuilding confidence in the tax system, restoring financial stability, and empowering people with the knowledge and support needed to engage independently in the future.
Without the National Tax Clinic program, many vulnerable individuals would have little to no access to tax support.
For those unable to afford professional advice, the tax system can feel complex, intimidating and inaccessible, leading to ongoing non-lodgment, unresolved debts, and disengagement. This not only exacerbates financial hardship for individuals but also undermines the fairness and integrity of the tax system more broadly.
Without the National Tax Clinic program there would be fewer pathways for early intervention, education, and support. Importantly, opportunities to train future tax professionals through work integrated learning (WIL) higher education activities in real-world, community-focused settings would also be lost, weakening both the profession and its capacity to serve those most in need.
In 2025, a total of 13,515 hours were invested in directly assisting vulnerable clients. Overall clinic hours worked was 31,975 (compared to 13,964 in 2024). This included hours by all personnel – external stakeholders, university staff, and pro bono assistance, including legal.
The number of National Tax Clinic program community events increased from 107 in 2024 to 124 in 2025.
Community participants also rose year-on-year from 1,505 to 10,242 in 2025. This represents a 581% increase on the prior year and is one of the most striking data points in this report. It reflects a program that is not merely responding to demand but actively building financial and tax literacy across the communities it serves.
The continued growth of the National Tax Clinic program highlights both the significant community need for accessible tax support and the important role clinics play in promoting financial inclusion and fairness.
The National Tax Clinic program Stewardship Committee acknowledges the dedication of all universities and TAFEs, staff, students, volunteers, and partner organisations whose contributions continue to strengthen the impact and reach of the National Tax Clinic program across Australia.
A program that changes lives
Behind every figure in this report is a person. Someone who fell behind on lodgments during a period of crisis. A small business owner drowning in compliance obligations they cannot afford to resolve professionally. A newly arrived migrant navigating an unfamiliar tax system in a second language. An incarcerated individual whose unresolved tax affairs are a barrier to reintegration. An elder in a remote community with no access to the professional services available to people in cities.
The National Tax Clinic program exists for all of them.
In 2025, the National Tax Clinic program assisted 6,773 taxpayers, completed 10,955 lodgments, and reached more than 10,000 community members through education events.
These are not simply program metrics. They represent thousands of Australians who, without access to the National Tax Clinic program network, would have faced the full weight of the tax system alone.
The National Tax Clinic program is not a last resort. It is, for many of the people it serves, the only resort.
This report presents the National Tax Clinic program’s 2025 data alongside the context needed to understand it:
- who is being helped
- why they need help
- what it takes to deliver that help, and
- why the continued growth of this program is not just justified but necessary.
Tax Ombudsman
As The Tax Ombudsman, I continue to be a strong advocate for National Tax Clinics. I have enjoyed visiting and working with many of the clinics and their students and teams in the last year.
I believe we all share a common mission. The purpose of my role is to improve the fairness and integrity of tax and super administration in Australia. The clinics too play an essential role in improving the fairness of tax administration. They are plugging a sizeable gap in the system left between the roles of the ATO, tax agents, financial counsellors and indeed my own Ombudsman office, focused on supporting low-income or vulnerable unrepresented taxpayers.
As we know, this is a sizeable cohort of people who need help with their tax obligations – be that getting lodgments up to date, managing a tax debt or access their refund – with nowhere else to turn to for help.
From my perspective, the clinics offer a genuine win/win/win. The clients win as their tax issues are resolved; the students win by learning new practical skills (and improving their employability); and the system wins from having more taxpayers helped get up to date and back on track for future obligations, as well as the role clinics play in tax literacy and education.
In the last year, I have benefitted from the shared experience and wisdom of the clinics in several areas of focus.
- Weaponisation of the tax system – clinics play a critical role in supporting victim-survivors of financial abuse. They have shared with me case studies, insights and suggested reforms, which are helping inform the ATO’s Vulnerability Framework and shape government policy on addressing financial abuse through legislation.
- Support for First Nations communities – my office is undertaking a systemic review of how the ATO engages with First Nations taxpayers. Several of the clinics undertake important outreach work in remote communities to support First Nations people to complete tax returns and access or consolidate their super. The shared learning from these outreach visits is providing highly valuable in developing a case for change and enhanced support.
- Similarly, those clinics supporting Pacific Australian Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme workers play an important role in helping the workers manage their tax and super before they leave Australia. This also supports the Australian economy and the industries who rely on the labour of the PALM workers. The clinics have been instrumental in highlighting the systemic flaws in the administration of PALM workers’ tax and super.
- Tax debts – finally, clinics are supporting taxpayers in addressing their debts, frequently negotiating with the ATO to help them find a way to repay their debts or to put them on hold. Tax debt is the biggest cause of complaints to my office, which have increased over 120% in the last year. The referral of complaints and case studies from the clinics has been valuable as has the opportunity for us to refer clients to the clinics where they need practical help with lodgment or advocacy (which goes beyond our remit).
I want to put on record my strong support for the clinics and my gratitude for their personal support to me (often at short notice!), their contribution to the work of my office and to the fairness of the tax system. On very limited funding they are always open to contributing and collaboration.
Looking forward, I am keen to see the clinics become a permanent and sustainable feature of our tax system. Additionally, I’d encourage the clinics to continue to work together to draw from the power of the collective and to continue to learn and share from and with each other. The combined data and insights can support far greater advocacy and evidencing of systemic issues. I have a selfish desire to make the most of that! I would also be keen to see more clinics support small businesses (or individuals with Australian business numbers) whose directors or owners also can have a desperate need for support with their tax obligations.
Onward and upward!
Ruth Owen
Tax Ombudsman