The Government has released an Options Paper for reforms to Australia’s foreign investment framework for residential real estate and agriculture, including the establishment of a small, specialised compliance and enforcement area within the ATO to identify and investigate breaches, introduction of an application fee on all foreign investment proposals and a range of new civil and criminal penalties for foreign investors and third parties who breach the rules. The definition of “agribusiness” for the purposes of a proposed new $55 million screening threshold for foreign investment in Australian agribusiness is also considered in the paper. Submissions can be made until 20 March 2015.




