The Background: In May 2024, the Australian
government announced reforms to both streamline and strengthen
Australia's foreign investment framework.
The Result: Treasury's headline statistics
show a material improvement in processing times for approved
commercial foreign investment applications, with the median
processing time falling to 34 days for the September 2024 quarter
(down from 41 days for the June 2024 quarter). At the same time,
the report reveals an increase in Treasury's compliance and
enforcement actions.
Looking Ahead: Although Treasury is showing
progress towards its aspirational target of assessing 50% of
commercial proposals within 30 days or less, the challenge will be
to improve its efficiency at assessing more complex investment
proposals, including those in sensitive sectors. Enforcement and
compliance remains a key priority for Treasury, as shown by the
volume of audits in progress and completed, non-compliance
referrals, and matters under
