Current Practice

Graeme Cooper is Professor of Taxation Law at the University of Sydney and a consultant to the firm. He joined the firm in 1992 and returned to work with us after spending 3 years in the Fiscal Affairs Division of the OECD in Paris and 5 years with the revenue law section of Freehills, Melbourne.

His role within the firm involves providing specialised research support, preparing submissions for clients dealing with the Government and tax agencies, and preparing detailed technical analysis for policy issues arising from client matters. He presents client briefings and coordinates the firm's regular Tax Briefs, updating clients on recent important developments. He works in most areas of corporate and trust taxation, and in GST.

Industry Experience

He has extensive experience working with Government as a consultant on various projects for the Board of Taxation, the Australian Taxation Office, Australian Treasury, the Australian National Audit Office and New Zealand Department of Inland Revenue. He also has extensive experience lobbying Government, preparing tax reform submissions on behalf of the Taxation Institute, the CPA Australia and the Law Council of Australia. This experience informs his work supporting client dealings with Government on tax policy problems and reform proposals.

He also has extensive international experience working with foreign Governments in tax policy formulation, tax law design and tax implementation. He has worked on tax reform and tax design projects for the OECD, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on projects in more than 20 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

Professional Background

Graeme is actively engaged in the tax profession through his roles with the Taxation Institute of Australia – he is a member of the State Council of New South Wales division and the State Education Committee – and the Law Council of Australia – he is a member of the Tax Committee of the Business Law Section. He is a well-known speaker and has delivered many papers at tax conferences in Australia and abroad – in Canada, Italy, the UK and the USA.

He lectures extensively in Australia and abroad. In addition to his current appointment at Sydney Law School, Graeme has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School and regularly teaches at the University of Virginia, and Katholieke University, Belgium. He was formerly Professor of Taxation Law at the University of Melbourne for 5 years and has also taught at the University of Illinois. He is the author of several books and many articles on tax law and policy in Australian and international journals.

Graeme holds several degrees including a Master of Laws with first class honours from Sydney University and the doctorate in law from Columbia University, New York.