2024 end of year highlights for the ATO foreign investment program

As the year draws to a close, I’m reflecting on 2024 as another big year for the ATO foreign investment program and looking forward to what 2025 brings.

It’s hard to believe that it was 12 months ago I was updating you all on the 2023 launch of Online services for foreign investors. Online services for foreign investors has been helping foreign investors meet their obligations for nearly 18 months now. We continue to pursue necessary system improvements, provide technical support, and take on feedback received from investors and their representatives to improve their experience with the platform, which supports the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets (the Register).

The Register aims to increase government’s visibility of foreign investments made in Australia. This year, three separate reports of foreign ownership in Australian asset types were published on the government’s foreign investment website. These publications, covering foreign investment in agricultural land, water entitlements and residential land are the final reports in this format. The first Report of Registrations from the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets (for the period to 30 June 2024) is currently under development. The new report is an integral step in improving transparency over interests held by foreign persons in specified assets in Australia. I look forward to sharing this publication with you in due course.

Our Foreign Investment Stakeholder Group meetings continued to be a key forum this year for discussing and sharing important messages with our partners in industry and business. At these meetings we delivered updates about work being undertaken in the foreign investment program including legislative amendments, increases to the foreign investment fees for residential real estate and our approach to non-compliance.

We recognise that most foreign investors are willing to do the right thing and meet their foreign investment obligations. Our compliance program for foreign investment in residential real estate continues to ensure that foreign persons acquiring residential real estate are identified, and that action is taken with those who contravene the rules. The program penalises breaches and places onus on the client to remediate a breach. Additional funding provided in the 2023-24 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook has increased our focus on foreign investors purchasing established dwellings, including where the foreign person has purchased without approval or does not meet conditions of approval.

Our offices will close at midday 24 December and re-open on 2 January. We look forward to working with you all in the new year.