I know that the direction of torque is along the axis of rotation, but would it be acceptable to say, for example considering a vertical thin rod in the x-y plane with a force acting on the bottom end towards the left, 'it is a clockwise torque about the centre of mass' (even though strictly speaking the torque's direction is into the page?)
It just seems to me easier to describe what's happening that way.
In the situation you gave, it's immediately clear what is meant, and there's no possibility for misinterpretation, so yes, it's perfectly acceptable. (Remember that torque is mathematically defined as a vector for convenience, but the direction of that vector isn't really physical.)
The only issue I can see with that is that as you leave the simple two-dimensional world and start looking at more complex problems, you've quickly need to abandon that way of describing things, since "clockwise" and "counter-clockwise" are a lot harder to keep track of.
