in 1895 income tax was introduced in New South Wales at the rate of six pence in the pound,

or 2.5%.
[2]
Federal income tax was first introduced in 1915, in order to help fund Australias war
effort in the First World War.
[3]
Between 1915 and 1942, income taxes were levied at both the
state and federal level.
[3]

In 1972, the government of William McMahon appointed the NSW Supreme
Court judge Kenneth Asprey to conduct a full and wide ranging review of the tax system.
Although controversial when completed for the Whitlam Government in 1975, the Asprey report
on taxation has acted "as a guide and inspiration to governments and their advisers for the
following 25 years." The main recommendations of the report have all been implemented and
are today part of Commonwealth taxation in Australia.
[4]