Kathryn James

Kathryn James is an Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on taxation law and policy, particularly value-added tax (VAT) and goods and services tax (GST), examining their impact on distributive justice. She is an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Fellow (2019-2024) leading a project on GST reform in Australia.

Research interests include:

• Taxation law and economic justice
• VAT/GST design and implementation
• Impact of technical tax questions on social equity

Publications focus on historical and contemporary tax policy, constitutional aspects of economic justice, and comparative analysis of VAT systems globally. Trends include critical examinations of tax equity, consumption taxes, and crisis-response reforms.

Awards:

• ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (2019-2024)

Leadership: Founded and convenes the Community Tax Project, an academic-community partnership advocating tax reform for social justice.

Teaching: Delivers Taxation Law and Policy in the Melbourne JD program.