Treasury opens consultation on foreign investment regime

Commonwealth Treasury opened a public consultation on 27 July to evaluate the operation and performance of recent reforms to the foreign investment framework. The reforms, which commenced on 1 January 2021, made significant changes to Australia’s FIRB framework, including increased scrutiny of investments based on national security sensitivity or concerns, greater compliance and enforcement powers, streamlining approval of some investments, and material increases to application fees (to be referred to as the ‘national security reforms’ for ease of reference).

Importantly, the consultation extends beyond the specifics of the national security reforms and will consider broader aspects of the current foreign investment review framework – including key investor considerations when choosing to invest and Australia’s attractiveness as an investment destination. The Property Council welcomes the review as an opportunity to adjust FIRB and other regulatory settings in order to attract the international capital that Australia’s property sector and the wider economy needs to continue to grow and support our COVID recovery.

To meet the consultation timeframes, we ask members to contact Kosta Sinelnikov (k[email protected]) from the Property Council’s Capital Markets Division by no later than Friday 13 August with any issues or feedback.

You can view further details here.