Sarah and Alex Thompson are the sole beneficiaries of a discretionary trust established by their paternal grandmother, who is still alive and resides in Australia. Sarah currently resides in Canada, while Alex is a resident of Australia. Sarah is $24$ years old, and Alex is $17.$

Throughout the financial year $2023/2024,$ the trustee of the trust received various dividends. Firstly, a dividend of $$9,000$ was received from a company based in Canada, subject to a $10\%$ withholding tax deducted at the source. Additionally, they received a fully franked dividend of $$7,000$ from a not based rate resident Australian company. The trustee deliberated and decided to distribute the income equally between Sarah and Alex.

Required:

You must support your answers with legal sources $($legislation$,$ rulings or cases$).$

Advise the trustee and beneficiaries as to their tax liability on the distribution for the $2023/2024$ income tax year.