Mr Nicholas Augustinos

Biography

Nicholas is an experienced commercial lawyer, having practised for over fifteen years in the areas of banking and finance, taxation and construction with leading law firms in Sydney and London, including Allens, Cameron McKenna, Allen & Overy and Dibbs Barker. He achieved the position of partner with Dibbs Barker.

Nicholas completed his Master of Laws studies on a cross-institutional basis at the University of Sydney and at University College London (University of London). He is a Fellow of the Tax Institute.

Since leaving Dibbs Barker in 2006, Nicholas has dedicated himself to academia, firstly as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney Faculty of Law (2007-2009) before joining the University of Notre Dame Sydney School of Law in 2010. As a Senior Lecturer with Notre Dame, he lectures in Equity, Trusts, Taxation, Commercial Law, Construction Law and International Cultural Heritage Law.

Nicholas’s legal research and publications are in the areas of taxation law and cultural heritage law. His Australian Tax Review publication on ‘Blackhole Expenditures and the Operation of Section 40-880’ has been cited by Chief Justice Kiefel and Justices Bell, Gageler, Nettle and Gordon of the High Court of Australia in their joint judgment in Commissioner of Taxation v Sharpcan Pty Ltd (2019) 269 CLR 370, 398. He has also presented his cultural heritage law research at Oxford University.

Nicholas is a confirmed PhD Candidate in cultural heritage law at the University of Queensland under the supervision of Professor Craig Forrest (UQ Law – principal supervisor) and Professor Lucas Lixinski (UNSW Law – associate supervisor). He is also involved in the work of the International Law Association’s Participation in Global Cultural Heritage Governance Committee as a Representative Member for Australia.

Teaching areas

Equity
Trusts
Taxation Law
Commercial Law
Construction and Building Contract Law
International Cultural Heritage Law

Research Expertise and Supervision

Taxation Law
Cultural Property Law

Research Interests and Current Projects

Nicholas is currently working on his PhD thesis in cultural heritage law, which focuses on the international efforts being made by the Greek Orthodox Church to recover stolen sacred artefacts and to secure the protection of, and access to, certain religious sites. He has also been working on a chapter entitled 'Legal Classification Within and Beyond Heritage Law' to be published in Lucie Morriset and Lucas Lixinski (eds) Routledge Handbook of Heritage and the Law (forthcoming).

Book chapters

“The Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Event of Armed Conflict: the Cyprus Experience” in N. Palmer (ed) The Recovery of Stolen Art (Kluwer Law International, London, 1998).

Journal articles and proceedings

'For Faith, Nation and the Entire World: The Inscription of Byzantine Chant in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity', Phronema Volume 36 Number 1 2021: 123-148.
The Role of Non-State Actors in the Cultural Heritage Field – The Case of the Orthodox Church and Its Heritage in Turkey’, Santander Art and Culture Law Review 2/2018 (4): 277-304.
(with Webster, K). “Tackling Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Through Enhanced Information Exchange”, (2014) Volume 16 Journal of Australian Taxation (forthcoming).
“The Meaning of ‘Market Value’ in Australia’s Income Tax Assessment Act 1997” (2014) Volume 9, No.1 Journal of the Australasian Tax Teachers Association 103.
“Apportionment of Dual-Purpose Expenses”, (2013) Revenue Law Journal Vol 23: Iss.1, Article 2, available at: http://epublications.bond.edu.au/rlj/vol23/iss1/2
“Blackhole Expenditures and the Operation of Section 40-880”, (2009) 38(2) Australian Tax Review 100.
“NSW Mortgage Duty: Credit for Duty Paid in Another State on Collateral Securities”, Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice, September 2003.
“Duty Paid on Collateral Securities”, Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice, March 2003.
“Tax Benefits Derived Under Financing Transactions”, Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice, September 2001.
“Sale and Leasebacks”, Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice, March 2000.
“Partnerships and Capital Gains Tax – A Comparative International Analysis”, Taxation in Australia (Red Edition), February 1993.
“Partnerships and Capital Gains Tax”, CCH Journal of Australian Taxation, October 1992.
“Remuneration Packaging”, Volume 9 Australian Tax Forum, 1992.

Conference papers

"An International Comparative Analysis of the Depreciation of Wasting Intangibles - Implications for Australia's Income Tax Assessment Act 1997", 27th Australasian Tax Teachers Association Conference, Adelaide University, Adelaide January 2015.
"The Meaning of 'Market Value' in Australia's Income Tax Assessment Act 1997", 26th Australasian Tax Teachers Association Conference, Griffith University, Brisbane January 2014.

Professional affiliations

Member, International Law Association (Australian Branch).
Representative Member for Australia, International Law Association Committee on Participation in Global Cultural Heritage Governance
Solicitor, Supreme Court of New South Wales
Solicitor, Supreme Court of England & Wales
Fellow, Tax Institute
Member, Australasian Tax Teachers Association

Community engagement

Council Member, St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College.
Over twenty years' service as a Sunday School Teacher, Youth Fellowship Leader and Bible Study Group Leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
Establishment of All Saints Grammar (an independent Greek Orthodox school)
Lay Pastoral Care Visitor, Concord Repatriation General Hospital

Awards

Winner, 2021 Three Minute Thesis Competition, University of Queensland School of Law
Spanos Melrose Memorial Scholarship, University of Sydney, 1992

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