✦ Plain-English Summary

Foreign Investment Reform (Protecting Australia's National Security) 2020

What it does

This law tightens Australia's rules on foreign companies and investors buying Australian assets. It gives the government stronger powers to block or restrict foreign takeovers of Australian businesses, farmland, water rights, and infrastructure if there are national security concerns.

Why it matters

Foreign investment is normal and often beneficial, but this law lets the government say "no" more easily if it thinks a foreign buyer might pose a risk to Australia—whether that's a critical industry, essential infrastructure, or sensitive resources. It's about making sure key parts of the Australian economy stay under Australian control.

Key details

• Comes into effect 1 January 2021 (most of it)
• Broader "national security" definition: The government can now block deals not just for obvious security threats, but also for things like critical infrastructure, water supplies, and agricultural land—giving them wider discretion than before
• Register of foreign ownership: Creates a public register showing who owns Australian farmland and water assets, so there's transparency about foreign control of these resources
• Who it affects: Anyone (foreign individual, company, or government) wanting to buy significant Australian assets will face stricter scrutiny

Official Description

Introduced with the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Fees Imposition Amendment Bill 2020, the bill amends the: Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 to: introduce a new national security test which requires mandatory notification of investments in a sensitive national security business or land and allows investments not otherwise notified to be 'called in' for review on national security grounds; provide the Treasurer, as a last resort and in extraordinary circumstances, with the ability to issue a divestment order where there is no other remedy for a national security risk; expand the enforcement, monitoring and investigative powers of the Treasurer and the Commissioner of Taxation; amend the circumstances in which an investor satisfies the change in control test; deems a foreign person to have acquired an interest in securities in an entity where the persons' proportional holdings have increased without the person taking any action; amend the definition of Australian business to include state and territory business functions; expand the tracing rules to unincorporated limited partnerships; enable information sharing with foreign governments; create a Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets which incorporates the existing Register of Foreign Ownership of Water Entitlements and Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land, and create additional obligations to notify the Registrar of a broader range of interests; provide that fees are payable for new types of actions; and make consequential and technical amendments; Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Taxation Administration Act 1953 to enable the Commissioner of Taxation to disclose protected information to the Foreign Investment Review Board for certain purposes; and Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 and Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 to make consequential amendments. Also repeals the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Act 2015 .

Committee Referrals

Senate Economics Legislation Committee; Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

No votes yet.

No votes were recorded for this bill.