Soar Book First Edition

Kerrie Professor Kerrie Sadiq (nee Chalmers) Kerrie Sadiq is a woman of her word. When Kerrie promised her daughter that she would bring home a photo of herself with then serving Prime Minister, Julia Gillard for her show and tell, she didn’t disappoint. Kerrie was in Canberra in 2011 for the National Tax Forum in her professional capacity as one of Australia’s foremost taxation experts. A year later she would go on to become the Professor of Taxation in the School of Accountancy at Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Business School. Kerrie joined John Paul College in Year Eleven from Beaudesert State High School and remembers ‘loving’ her time as a student. ‘I recall feeling safe in a learning environment that made me feel that it was acceptable to want to learn.’ She has ‘always liked numbers’ and excelled in accounting at school. Kerrie graduated in 1985 as Proxime Accessit (runner-up to the College Dux) and undertook a dual Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Queensland (UQ). Kerrie was admitted as a Barrister to the Supreme Court of Australia in 1992, and went on to complete her Masters in Law at QUT in 1994. By 1993 Kerrie had decided not to practise, but to combine her early dreams of teaching and a love of research, to focus on an academic career at UQ that would span 20 years. ‘I guess I discovered that I loved studying.’ In 2003 Kerrie was awarded her Doctor of Philosophy from Deakin University where she investigated International tax law. In 2002 she was promoted to Associate Professor at UQ and in 2012 joined QUT’s Business School as Professor of Taxation. International tax avoidance and its economic ramifications are the focus of Kerrie’s work, especially in relation to the impact on essential services as a result of lost revenue. Her research and findings argue for a fairer system which taxes economic activity and ensures that countries are able to collect the tax revenue from multinationals that operate within their jurisdiction. Kerrie’s work has been cited in the 2015 Senate Inquiry Report into corporate tax avoidance. Kerrie is the co-editor of Australian Tax Review , is a widely published author in both Australian and international journals and is a co-author of taxation text books. She is a Senior Tax Adviser to the Tax Justice Network (UK). Kerrie is particularly passionate about mentoring junior staff, and in addition to lecturing undergraduate students, supervises up to six or seven PhD candidates annually. ‘The number of women at high levels within our tertiary institutions is changing for the better. When I started at UQ, all the professors in my discipline were men.’ Kerrie is proud to highlight the success of her 1985 classmates — John Paul College’s first graduates. ‘The success of this small group is phenomenal: Cathie Flynn and Alison Van Gelderen, both vets; Craig Munns, a professor of medicine; and John Fraser, a former A380 captain with QANTAS, to name a few.’ Class of 1985 Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School PAGE 4