Similar to Canada (where I live), Australia has a GST tax (Goods and services), that was meant to be applied to the end consumer at the time of purchase of a product. That they are currently charging GST on the "purchase" of bitcoin as though it were a product, as well as on anything that bitcoin is used to buy, means they were double taxing. Picture bitcoin as a foreign currency... when you convert USD to CAD for a trip to Canada, you do not pay tax on the value of the conversion, only when you spend the CAD in Canada to buy a product. With the new Australian rules, bitcoin will now be treated as any other currency.