Australia Treasurer: Temporary changes to the foreign investment review framework

Australian Treasurer, Joshua Anthony Frydenberg, has announced changes to Australia’s foreign investment review framework, effective from 10.30pm AEST on Sunday 29 March 2020, relating to monetary thresholds and timeframes for reviewing applications.

Australian Government Foreign Investment Review Board

Material on the FIRB website is being updated to capture these changes. In the meantime, all material on this website, including guidance notes, should be read in light of the Treasurer’s announcement.

The Treasurer has today announced temporary changes to the foreign investment review framework. The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) was consulted upon and fully supports the changes.

These temporary measures have been necessitated by extraordinary economic circumstances. Foreign investment is and will continue to be critical to Australia’s prosperity. These temporary measures are necessary to protect the national interest during an historically challenging time for the economy, businesses and the broader community.

The FIRB will continue to assess foreign investment applications against the national interest (including support for employment) on a case by case basis. It will seek to accommodate commercial deadlines wherever possible. The FIRB will continue to be supported by the resources of the Treasury and the Australian Taxation Office.

Market implications

The stimulus is what markets are breathing with these days, the more the better.