On 1 July 2023, the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets (FOAA Register) commenced. The FOAA Register records certain actions relating to interests in land, water, entities, businesses and other assets in Australia that are carried out by foreign investors. Relevantly, the commencement of the FOAA Register is a significant change to the way foreign investments are reported in Australia, in particular, relating to transactions involving commercial land.

In response to the commencement of the FOAA Register on 1 July 2023, Practical Law Commercial Real Estate and Practical Law Corporate have published Checklist, Reporting obligations under the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets. This checklist outlines:

• When a person is required to report certain actions involving Australian assets (including interests in land, water, entities, businesses and other assets) on the FOAA Register.
• The key steps for a person to take to comply with its obligation to report a certain action on the FOAA Register.

We have also made substantive updates to key Practical Law foreign investment resources to reflect the changes following the commencement of the FOAA Register, including:

• Practice note, Regulation of foreign investment in Australia.
• Practice note, Foreign investment in Australian land.
• Checklist, Foreign investment in Australian land: due diligence checklist.

These resources will help foreign investors navigate through this significant change in law and practice, particularly where these changes are expected to increase the administrative burden applying to foreign investors who will need to review and update their internal processes to monitor and comply with these new requirements.