Legislative Review of the Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020
Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 (Foreign Relations Act) commenced on 10 December 2020. Its purpose is to ensure that arrangements between state or territory governments (and their entities) and foreign entities do not adversely affect Australia's foreign relations and are not inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy.
Section 63A of the Foreign Relations Act requires a review of the operation of the Foreign Relations Act as soon as possible after 10 March 2024.
On 21 June 2024, the Government announced the details of the independent review including the appointment of Ms Rosemary Huxtable AO PSM to lead the review, and a call for public submissions.
The review is expected to be completed in early 2025.
Consultation paper
To assist in the preparation of submissions, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) released a consultation paper that outlined the purpose and background to the Scheme, the terms of reference for the review, and consultation questions.
Terms of reference
The review must include consideration of:
(a) whether it is necessary or desirable to do anything to improve the operation of the Act;
(b) the effectiveness of the Act in meeting its objectives;
(c) whether the Act should be amended to implement the recommendations of the review; and
(d) whether a further review of the Act should be undertaken, and, if so, when.
Submissions
In order to inform the review, interested stakeholders were invited to comment on the issues and questions raised in the consultation paper, including the terms of reference.
Public submissions to the independent review opened on 21 June 2024 and closed on 2 August 2024.
Making submissions public
All information in submissions (including names) are publicly available on the Foreign Arrangements Scheme website unless the submission indicated that all or part of the submission should remain in confidence. Otherwise submissions are published on the Foreign Arrangements Scheme website.
Where a submission was to remain in confidence it does not appear anywhere on the Foreign Arrangements Scheme website.
DFAT may not make submissions public for reasons associated with fairness and relevance. Submissions that are made public may also include redactions as DFAT considers appropriate.
Legal requirements, such as those imposed by the Freedom of Information Act 1982, may affect the confidentiality of your submission.
Collection of personal information
Any personal information provided in submissions received was only used for:
- contacting the submitter for clarification of details
- confirming submitter consent to the publication of information in certain circumstances, and/or
- seeking submitter feedback on the consultation process.
DFAT will not disclose personal information without consent, unless authorised or required by law. For further information read the DFAT privacy policy.