Australia welcomes foreign investment. It has helped build Australia's economy and will continue to enhance the wellbeing of Australians by supporting economic growth and innovation into the future. Foreign investment supplements domestic savings; without foreign investment, production, employment and income would all be lower.

To ensure foreign investment proposals are consistent with Australia's national interest, the Australian Government reviews major foreign investFment proposals on a case-by-case basis through the Treasury, with advice from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). The FIRB examines significant foreign investment applications that fall within the scope of Australia's foreign investment policy and the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and makes recommendations to the Treasurer, on behalf of the government, on those proposals.

The review system allows the government to consider community concerns around foreign ownership of certain assets when assessing Australia's national interest. The national interest test also recognises the importance of Australia's market-based system, where companies are responsive to shareholders and where investment and sales decisions are driven by market forces rather than external strategic or non-commercial considerations.

Detailed information on Australia's Foreign Investment Policy can be found on the Treasury website.

Further streamlining and strengthening the foreign investment framework

Foreign investment is crucial to Australia's prosperity and remains a core element of the Government's agenda for a more productive, dynamic and resilient economy. At the same time, new and emerging threats to the national interest and national security demand vigilance to ensure that the foreign investment framework remains fit-for-purpose, proportionate and effective.

To address these challenges, in the 2026-27 Budget, the Government announced a package of legislative, policy and practice reforms to further streamline and strengthen Australia's foreign investment framework. The reforms will ensure that Australia's regulatory settings are well-calibrated to attract and enable low-risk investment, while providing stronger, more flexible tools to identify, manage and respond to high-risk investment, serious non-compliance and avoidance.

The package of reforms involves:

• Setting a new performance target of deciding all low-risk applications within 30 days (to be implemented from 1 January 2027),
• Updating or removing ineffective conditions on existing foreign investment approvals
• Amending foreign investment legislation, and making consequential amendments to other legislation as relevant, to further streamline and strengthen the foreign investment framework
• Streamlining the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets (the Register)
• Extending the temporary ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings by 2 years and 3 months until 30 June 2029.

Australia welcomes foreign investment, with the overwhelming majority of investment being approved. A strong and secure economy creates a positive investment environment that ensures Australia remains an attractive destination for foreign investment. However, risks to Australia's national interest, particularly national security, have increased as a result of developments including rapid technological change and changes in the international security environment. The introduction of the national security test provides the Treasurer with the ability to address new and emerging national security risks from foreign investment.

A 'national security business' under the foreign investment framework includes businesses that are responsible for critical infrastructure assets as defined in the recently reformed Security of Critical infrastructure Act 2018. This covers a number of assets within a range of sectors from communications to energy. It reflects assets and services that underpin our society and on which we rely for our everyday business and lives.

For more information on Australia's critical infrastructure, see the Department of Home Affairs Critical Infrastructure page. Also: Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure Protection) Act 2022. For more information about Australia's foreign investment framework, visit the Foreign Investment Review Board website.