16 Facts About Tammy Franks

Tammy Anne Franks is an Australian politician who was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council for the SA Greens at the 2010 state election.

Tammy Franks became heavily involved in university politics, media, and activism, campaigning against the closure of her Salisbury Campus of the University of South Australia, and was elected State President of the National Union of Students.

Tammy Franks has since worked in community organisations such as Amnesty International and the YWCA and held such positions such as Policy Officer for the Mental Health Coalition of South Australia.

Tammy Franks was the Higher Education and Youth Advisor for Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja in 1995 and undertook a secondment to the 'Yes' campaign for the Australian Republic Movement under the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull during the 1999 Australian republic referendum campaign.

In 2004 Tammy Franks ran as a Democrat Senate candidate in South Australia.

Tammy Franks has been active in the South Australian Greens since 2006, serving two terms as State Convenor and undertaking the task of SA Election Campaign Committee Convenor for the 2007 federal election.

At the 2010 state election, Tammy Franks achieved 6.6 percent of the statewide vote, an increase of 2.3 percent, joining fellow Green Mark Parnell in the state Legislative Council.

Tammy Franks pleaded guilty on 28 October 2011 to ten counts of failing to lodge tax returns between 2001 and 2010, but later changed her plea to not guilty in March 2012.

Tammy Franks said she had always paid tax, always provided a tax file number and did not owe the Australian Taxation Office any money, and that the failure to lodge was due to her belief that if she was owed money, she wouldn't be required to lodge a tax return.

Tammy Franks cited a combination of personal factors, including a "nasty divorce".

Tammy Franks further claimed that when the ATO had asked her to file her returns, they gave her only six weeks to respond, and she had been unable to access each of her group certificates or joint bank accounts, as they were scattered in boxes throughout the house and in a locked shed of the marital home which was owned by her then-husband.

Tammy Franks claimed she did not realise the ATO would accept statutory declarations in place of missing or lost group certificates.

Lawyers for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, said Tammy Franks should be fined the maximum amount of $41,800.

The magistrate concluded Tammy Franks "did very little" to attempt to comply with the notice.

Tammy Franks said he preferred the evidence of an ATO employee, who contradicted Franks' evidence that she had asked for an extension of time in which to lodge the returns.

In 2021, Tammy Franks made allegations that Sam Duluk touched her inappropriately, which was denied by Duluk.