The Commissioner of State Revenue thought the university should pay land tax on a site it leases to Campus Living Villages Melbourne

CLVM operates a 648-bed student accommodation facility in Leicester Street, Carlton. The commissioner thinks it is a commercial operation and thus land tax applies. Uni Melbourne argued that it provided the land at a peppercorn rental for the student accommodation built on it and thus the university’s charity status applied.

In Victoria’s Supreme Court Justice Osborne  found that while the university is not itself providing students with accommodation, it “has determined to ensure that student accommodation is provided to students at the university so as to facilitate their education.” The university also monitors CLVM, “to ensure that the university’s objectives with respect to the enhancement of the students’ overall educational objectives are maintained.”