Open forums

What open forums offer

Open forums are interactive webinars featuring guest speakers from the ATO and the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).

By joining our webinars, you can:

hear the latest updates and upcoming changes to the tax, super and registry systems
engage directly with subject matter experts to get your questions answered.

Attendance certificates

We have heard your feedback about the importance of attendance certificates, especially for meeting your continuing professional education (CPE) requirements. In response, we now issue attendance certificates to participants who attend open forums for the full session. Registration alone will not be considered evidence of attendance for CPE purposes.

These certificates support you in providing evidence of your CPE. They reflect our ongoing commitment to working with the profession and improving how we design and deliver our engagement activities based on your feedback.

Webinar resources

Access open forum resources, including webinar recordings and key insights from tax practitioner questions, through the Open forums resource hub. The hub includes content from recent sessions.

Watching recordings may contribute to your CPE and help you access key messages at a time that suits you. Attendance certificates are not issued for viewing webinar recordings.

Continuing professional education (CPE)

To claim CPE with the TPB, the activity must be relevant to the tax or BAS agent services you provide. Eligible activities may include topics that:

improve your technical knowledge
provide guidance on practice management, cyber security and ethics
support health and wellbeing activities that help you deliver competent services to your clients.

For more details, refer to the TPB’s CPE guidanceExternal Link.

Upcoming open forums

You can register for our open forum using the 'Register for this session' link in the following table.

Open forum sessions	Session topics
Tax Time 2026 – what's new, what matters and helping clients navigate tax and payment obligations Wednesday 22 July 2026 11:30 am - 12:30 pm AEST Register for this sessionExternal Link	Join ATO Tax Time spokesperson Anita Challen and Strategic, Performance & Engagement Assistant Commissioner Kelly Norwood for a practical discussion on key Tax Time developments, emerging risks and practical issues affecting tax practitioners. Anita will share the latest Tax Time insights, including common errors, pre-fill enhancements and the growing influence of misinformation from social media and AI-generated content. Kelly will provide an update on the current debt environment, discuss the importance of early engagement with clients experiencing payment difficulties, and outline the support options available to help clients manage their tax obligations. There will be dedicated time for live audience questions, giving you the opportunity to hear directly from ATO experts and gain practical insights on the topics that matter most to you and your clients.
Mental health and wellbeing support Tuesday 4 August 2026 1 pm - 2:15 pm AEST Register for this sessionExternal Link	In this session, delivered by Beyond Blue, we will explore the stressors that the tax profession is currently experiencing and highlight what support options are available for small business owners. We will draw attention to small business owners working within the tax profession and how best to practice self-care during uncertain times. We will hear about the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program (NASBO) and hear directly from a NASBO participant. We welcome questions from the audience to explore ways to manage mental health challenges in addition to helping others who may be struggling.

Open forum sessions

Session topics

Tax Time 2026 – what's new, what matters and helping clients navigate tax and payment obligations

Wednesday 22 July 2026

11:30 am - 12:30 pm AEST

Register for this sessionExternal Link

Join ATO Tax Time spokesperson Anita Challen and Strategic, Performance & Engagement Assistant Commissioner Kelly Norwood for a practical discussion on key Tax Time developments, emerging risks and practical issues affecting tax practitioners.

Anita will share the latest Tax Time insights, including common errors, pre-fill enhancements and the growing influence of misinformation from social media and AI-generated content. Kelly will provide an update on the current debt environment, discuss the importance of early engagement with clients experiencing payment difficulties, and outline the support options available to help clients manage their tax obligations.

There will be dedicated time for live audience questions, giving you the opportunity to hear directly from ATO experts and gain practical insights on the topics that matter most to you and your clients.

Mental health and wellbeing support

Tuesday 4 August 2026

1 pm - 2:15 pm AEST

Register for this sessionExternal Link

In this session, delivered by Beyond Blue, we will explore the stressors that the tax profession is currently experiencing and highlight what support options are available for small business owners. We will draw attention to small business owners working within the tax profession and how best to practice self-care during uncertain times.

We will hear about the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program (NASBO) and hear directly from a NASBO participant. We welcome questions from the audience to explore ways to manage mental health challenges in addition to helping others who may be struggling.

Feedback

Your feedback plays an important role in shaping our open forums and the way we engage with the profession.

We use your input to inform future topics, improve how sessions are delivered and enhance the overall experience.

If you would like to provide feedback or suggest a topic for an upcoming open forum, email us at ATOOpenForums@ato.gov.au