This is some bullshit. In a sane world, GST would only be applied to the fees that Coinjar charges, not the entire amount. They're treating it as an everyday good and not a currency or even a commodity, and trying to shoehorn it into their existing rules on bartering which makes zero sense. This is going to kill (legitimate) Bitcoin adoption in Australia.
Can't agree more, I'm flabbergasted by how small-minded the ATO's guidence is. Cutting off one's nose to spite their face describes it pretty well though. And most importantly, this punishes legitimate outfits like Coinjar and actually incentivises under the counter sales, so this will actually encourage tax evasion ffs! All they've tried to do is hammer a square peg into a round hole, regardless of how much it will hurt not just Bitcoin, but themselves in the process.
Bitcoin won't get hurt though, blocks will continue to get mined and the blockchain will grow. It doesn't care.
If you mean in terms of value, the price will just skyrocket in Australia. Prohibition of any kind will just make it more valuable.