Law Council of Australia

Business Law Section

Foreign investment framework reforms—Review of ineffective conditions

Submission Date: 17 September 2026

The Foreign Investment Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia (the Committee) prepared this submission. Its members are practitioners from leading Australian law firms who regularly advise foreign persons on the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth), the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015 (Cth) and foreign investment approvals administered by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The Committee welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Treasury’s consultation paper, ‘Foreign investment framework reforms—Review of ineffective conditions’, dated 19 August 2026. This submission identifies conditions in foreign investment approvals that are duplicative, inconsistent or outdated, and recommends reforms based on Committee members’ practical experience.

Many conditions serve their intended purpose, but others do not meet the criteria in Guidance Note 11 (GN 11). These fall into three categories:

  1. conditions that duplicate obligations under the tax laws, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) or the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (Cth) (SOCI Act);
  2. conditions that conflict where a group holds approvals granted at different times, requiring parallel reporting and audits with differing timing and content requirements; and
  3. conditions disproportionate to the identified risk, or based on outdated business practices.

The table below identifies each condition, the practical issues it creates, and the Committee’s recommendation. The Committee’s guiding principle is that a condition should not be imposed or maintained where another Australian regulatory regime already addresses the identified risk.

Related Documents

Last Updated on 07/10/2026

Share

Tags

Most recent items in Business Law Section


Trending Items in Business Law Section