The Federal government announced on 5 June 2020 that the current
temporary Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB)
rules put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (which we
outlined
here) will come to an end on 1 January 2021.
However, the Treasurer also announced that the government will
release draft legislation next month that introduces a new national
security test for foreign investors seeking to invest in an
Australian 'sensitive national security business'. The
government proposes to legislate the changes before the end of the
year, with the intention that they will take effect from 1 January
2021 upon the expiry of the temporary emergency rules currently in
place. Significantly, the Treasurer has called these proposed
reforms the most significant since the establishment of the foreign
investment regime in 1975. We discuss the key aspects of these
proposed changes below.
