Background
Austin was a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales who was challenging a Commonwealth law which imposed a superannuation contributions surcharge on judges. The Commonwealth law was part of a wider scheme imposing a superannuation charge on higher income earners, equalising the tax burden on judges vis-a-vis other high income earners. The surcharge was not imposed on states directly as employers because it could have infringed section 114 of the constitution, which outlaws taxation of state property. If a person was a judge since before 1987, the charge was not imposed as the liability to pay the charge could have run to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The New South Wales government, in response, amended the charge system to lower the burden that would have to be paid.
Read more about this topic: Austin V Commonwealth
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