Overview
Background
Dr Thea Voogt is an Associate Professor in the School of Law and the Director of Business Law.
She specialises in income tax law, agriculture tax policy tools, the impact of climate change on the financial fortitude of farming families, corporate governance and business structures.
Thea leverages her significant business experience in senior executive roles and her background as a chartered accountant in industry projects. She holds a Doctorate in Financial Management and Master of International Commercial Law (UQ).
Thea is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an award-winning law teacher. She is the 2017 recipient of the prestigious UQ Business, Economics & Law Faculty Teaching Award. She also received the 2017 Inspired me to learn Award for Teaching Excellence in an undergraduate compulsory course, and the 2016 Award for Teaching Excellence in an undergraduate compulsory course from the UQ School of Law.
Prior to joining UQ, Thea was the CEO (Principal Officer) of the superannuation funds of the University of Johannesburg, a Professor in Accounting and managed large tenders for this institution. Over the course of her career in South Africa, she was closely involved with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants as sought-after speaker, researcher and umpire for the national qualifying exams for chartered accountants. Thea also held a Ministerial appointment to the Board of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).
Availability
- Associate Professor Thea Voogt is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Commerce, Institution to be confirmed
- Masters (Coursework) of Commerce, Institution to be confirmed
- Doctor of Philosophy, Institution to be confirmed
- Masters (Coursework), The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Farm self-reliance and resilience
The measurement of farm self-reliance and resilience is extraordinarily difficult in Australia because farm operations often involve more than one legal entity, multiple taxpayers and inter-entity transactions. Using data from a unique pilot study of sheep and beef-cattle farms in Central Western Queensland, Dr Voogt studies the role that government support plays in farm self-reliance and resilience.
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Drought policy and climate change
There are a large number of drought and climate change policy tools that are intended to help primary producers achieve self-reliance. Using data from sheep and beef-cattle farms in Central Western Queensland, Dr Voogt's research focuses on the efficacy of particularly tax-focused policy tools and quantifies the extent to which these are effective at a farm level.
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The impact of income tax law on small business structures
The legal form, or combination of legal forms adopted to conduct a family business enables family members to benefit from operations using their ownership interests, employment rights or through discretionary entitlements. The same interests, rights or entitlements should also explain their access to business-generated cash to fund their personal expenses and the way the family unit is taxed. However, relying on the underlying social construct of a family business and their position as risk takers, family member participants may argue they are entitled to take cash generated by the family business to fund their personal expenses on an ongoing basis with little or no formality. Objectively, family member participants’ right to take business-generated cash for personal purposes is constrained by the nature of their ownership rights (if they have any), by the legal form adopted to conduct the business, and by complexities that arise from ever-changing income tax law. Dr Voogt's research looks at the unique way in which discretionary trusts are used for trading purposes in Australia from an income tax perspective, and the differences between the taxation of legal forms and structures in Australia that play an important role in the choice of legal form.
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Small firm and family firm business structures
Small businesses are an established and enduring feature of the Australian economy. It is estimated that 70 per cent of all Australian businesses are family owned, and that nearly three-quarters are small enterprises with a turnover of $12 million or less per annum. The legal form, or combination of legal forms used to conduct these businesses impact taxes payable, access to government support and access to cash. Focusing on small businesses, family farming and regional business innovation, Dr Voogt uses data from a pilot study with industry partners RAPAD https://www.rapad.com.au/research/ and RFCSNQ https://www.rfcsnq.com.au/resources/programs/ to study how Australia's taxation laws impact small business structures.
Research impacts
Surviving the dry spell: UQ Research Impact feature https://bit.ly/2WpWLou
Dr Thea Voogt leads a pilot study to discover the best ways to structure family businesses in Queensland’s drought-affected regions to ensure they not only survive but thrive. The study is a first of its kind to focus on how the law and accounting intersects in small business structures.
Partnering with the Remote Area Planning and Development Board and Rural Financial Counselling Service North Queensland, the team works with farmers, business owners and community leaders across the local government areas of Barcaldine, Barcoo, Blackall-Tambo, Boulia, Diamantina, Longreach and Winton. A unique feature of the project is the high levels of trust between participants and the researchers that involve private and confidential access to income tax returns and business financial statements.
The pilot study is part of a larger collaborative project Small Australian firm business structures. The research team comprises Prof Ross Grantham (UQ School of Law), Prof Martie-Louise Verreynne (UQ Business School) and Dr Thea Voogt.
Works
Search Professor Thea Voogt’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2018
Journal Article
Director appointments: expressing board care and diligence
Voogt, Thea and Verreynne, Martie-Louise (2018). Director appointments: expressing board care and diligence. UNSW Law Journal, 41 (4), 1335-1367.
Featured
2018
Journal Article
A conceptual assessment of board skills in ASX100 companies
Voogt, Thea (2018). A conceptual assessment of board skills in ASX100 companies. Australian Business Law Review, 46 (4), 218-236.
Featured
2017
Journal Article
Tall trees and digital literacy: Lessons from Palkon v Holmes
Voogt, Thea (2017). Tall trees and digital literacy: Lessons from Palkon v Holmes. Australian Journal of Corporate Law, 31 (3), 344-369.
Featured
2017
Journal Article
After all the talk, what is the Turnbull government actually doing for small business?
Verreynne, Martie-Louise and Voogt, Thea (2017, 02 16). After all the talk, what is the Turnbull government actually doing for small business? The Conversation
2024
Journal Article
Revisiting income averaging 50 years after the Asprey Review
Voogt, Thea (2024). Revisiting income averaging 50 years after the Asprey Review. Australian Tax Review, 53 (4), 247-274.
2024
Journal Article
The impact of farm management deposits on income stabilisation, productivity, profitability, drought risk management and self-reliance
Voogt, Thea (2024). The impact of farm management deposits on income stabilisation, productivity, profitability, drought risk management and self-reliance. Australian Tax Forum, 39 (3), 369-400.
2024
Conference Publication
Contemporary Assessment of Income Stabilisation and Environmental Sustainability Agriculture Tax Policy Tools
Voogt, Thea (2024). Contemporary Assessment of Income Stabilisation and Environmental Sustainability Agriculture Tax Policy Tools. 2024 Queensland Tax Researcher Symposium, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 12 July 2024.
2023
Conference Publication
Drought and taxes: the battler's journey to self-reliance
Voogt, Thea (2023). Drought and taxes: the battler's journey to self-reliance. Deus Ex Machine: Law - Technology - Humanities 2023, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 11 - 14 December 2023. Brisbane, QLD Australia: Queensland University of Technology.
2023
Conference Publication
Self-Regulated v Contact-Based Learning in Undergraduate Tax Courses
Voogt, Thea, Robinson, Rhonda and Chen, Sue (2023). Self-Regulated v Contact-Based Learning in Undergraduate Tax Courses. Queensland Tax Researcher Symposium 2023, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 30 June 2023. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland.
2022
Other Outputs
Resilient and committed: embracing adult life with ADHD
Marshallsay, Jessica and Voogt, Thea (2022, 10 01). Resilient and committed: embracing adult life with ADHD UQ Contact magazine
2022
Conference Publication
Evaluating the self-reliance impact of Farm Management Deposits
Voogt, Thea (2022). Evaluating the self-reliance impact of Farm Management Deposits. Rural Financial Counselling Service National Providers Forum, Cairns, QLD, Australia, 21-22 July 2022. Cairns, QLD, Australia:
2022
Conference Publication
Measuring the Impact of Drought Policy Tools on Self-Reliance
Voogt, Thea (2022). Measuring the Impact of Drought Policy Tools on Self-Reliance. Queensland Tax Researcher Symposium, Brisbane, Australia, 8 July 2022. Brisbane, Australia:
2022
Conference Publication
Farm Management Deposits and Farmgate Self-Reliance: implications for rural financial counselling
Voogt, Thea (2022). Farm Management Deposits and Farmgate Self-Reliance: implications for rural financial counselling. Rural Financial Counselling Service North Queensland conference, Townsville, QLD Australia, 8-9 June 2022. Townsville, QLD Australia: RFCSNQ.
2022
Conference Publication
Farm management deposits and farmgate self-reliance
Voogt, Thea (2022). Farm management deposits and farmgate self-reliance. Australasian Tax Teachers' Association Annual Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, 19-20 January 2022. Australasian Tax Teachers' Association.
2021
Conference Publication
The efficacy of farm management deposits in prolonged drought conditions
Voogt, Thea (2021). The efficacy of farm management deposits in prolonged drought conditions. Queensland Tax Researcher Symposium, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 9 July 2021. Brisbane, Australia: Griffith University.
2021
Other Outputs
RFCSNQ - Change conversations: Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 2020-2021 operational year
Voogt, Thea (2021). RFCSNQ - Change conversations: Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 2020-2021 operational year. 2020-2021 operational year Brisbane, QLD, Australia: TC Beirne School of Law.
2020
Other Outputs
RFCSNQ - Change conversations: Quarter 1 2020-2021 operational year
Voogt, Thea (2020). RFCSNQ - Change conversations: Quarter 1 2020-2021 operational year. 2020-2021 operational year Brisbane, QLD, Australia: TC Beirne School of Law.
2020
Other Outputs
RFCSNQ review of the 2019-2020 operational year
Voogt, Thea (2020). RFCSNQ review of the 2019-2020 operational year. Review of the 2019-20 operational year Brisbane, QLD, Australia: TC Beirne School of Law.
2020
Other Outputs
RFCSNQ Quarter 3 of 2019-20 review of the 2019-20 operational year
Voogt, Thea (2020). RFCSNQ Quarter 3 of 2019-20 review of the 2019-20 operational year. Review of the 2019-20 operational year Brisbane, QLD, Australia: TC Beirne School of Law.
2020
Other Outputs
National drought and North QLD flood response and recovery agency: briefing note
Voogt, Thea (2020). National drought and North QLD flood response and recovery agency: briefing note. Winton, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Thea Voogt is:
- Available for supervision
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Media
Enquiries
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