FAQs

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme deals with foreign arrangements. These are written arrangements, agreements, contracts, understandings or undertakings between State and Territory entities and foreign entities, as defined in the Act. They may be legally-binding or not legally binding.

It creates obligations in respect of both prospective arrangements and pre-existing arrangements, as well as subsidiary arrangements entered into for the purposes of implementing a foreign arrangement.

Corporations operating on a commercial basis are excluded from the Scheme. However, in some cases the Scheme will apply to foreign arrangements involving corporations. See further guidance on corporations for information on when the Scheme applies to foreign arrangements involving corporations.

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme covers State/Territory entities, including:

• State and Territory governments, departments and agencies (core State/Territory entities), and
• local governments, and Australian public universities (non-core State/Territory entities).

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme also covers foreign entities, including:

• foreign national governments, departments or agencies (core foreign entities), and
• a province, state, self-governing territory, region, local council, municipality or other political subdivision of a foreign country (including its governments, departments, agencies), an authority of a foreign country established for a public purpose, and a foreign university that does not have institutional autonomy (non-core foreign entities).

If your arrangement is between a State/Territory entity and a foreign entity, it may be covered by the Scheme. For further information, see Fact Sheet 1 – Overview.

Detailed definitions of ‘State/Territory entities’ and ‘foreign entity’ are contained in Section 4 of the Act.

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme differentiates between core foreign arrangements and non-core foreign arrangements.

A core foreign arrangement is an arrangement between a core State/Territory entity and a core foreign entity.

A non-core foreign arrangement is an arrangement between:

• a core State/Territory entity and a non-core foreign entity
• a non-core State/Territory entity and a core foreign entity, or
• a non-core State/Territory entity and a non-core foreign entity.

Depending on if your arrangement is core or non-core, you will have different obligations under the Scheme.

Detailed definitions of ‘arrangement’, ‘core foreign arrangement’ and ‘non-core foreign arrangement’ are contained in Section 4 of the Act.

State/Territory entities were required to notify pre-existing core foreign arrangements to the Minister by 10 March 2021. Any pre-existing core arrangements not notified by 10 March 2021 are automatically invalidated.

State/Territory entities were required to notify pre-existing non-core foreign arrangements to the Minister by 10 June 2021.

The timeframe for notifying a pre-existing core foreign arrangement involving a school was extended to 10 June 2021, following an amendment to the rules on 9 March 2021.

When making a declaration under the Scheme, the Minister must take into account certain matters outlined under Section 51 of the Act

The Minister seeks advice from a range of sources in making a declaration, depending on the nature of the particular factual scenario before them.

Foreign policy and foreign relations are not static; they change over time dependent on a range of factors. The Foreign Arrangements Scheme has been developed recognising that foreign engagement demands nuanced information and oversight, often unavailable to the public.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website has a number of resources to help understand Australia’s foreign policy and foreign relations. If you need further guidance in relation to your specific arrangement please contact foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme differentiates between core foreign arrangements and non-core foreign arrangements.

A core foreign arrangement is an arrangement between a core State/Territory entity and a core foreign entity.

Under the Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020, a core State/Territory entity is defined as:

• a State or Territory;
• the government of a State or Territory;
• a Department or agency (however described) that is part of an entity covered by the above

A detailed definition of ‘core State/Territory entity’ is contained in Section 4 of the .

The Portal will automatically determine whether your entity is a core State/Territory entity and, if so, whether your arrangement is a core foreign arrangement.

Under the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, certain low-risk foreign arrangements have been exempted from the notification requirements in the Act through the Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Rules 2020.

These arrangements include:

• core foreign arrangements that deal solely with the sharing of information or resources for the management of an emergency,
• foreign arrangements dealing with minor administrative or logistical matters, such as booking flights or arranging visas for conferences.
• and minor variations to existing arrangements, where they have already been notified to the Minister (such as changing the number of students in an exchange program from 6 to 5.)

Under the Act, the Minister may make further rules as they see fit.

If you are unclear if your arrangement is exempt from the Scheme, you should consider getting independent legal advice.

Under the Foreign Arrangements Scheme your obligations may differ depending upon whether your arrangement is legally binding.

An arrangement is considered legally binding under the Scheme if any of the provisions of the arrangement confer legal rights or impose legal obligations that are legally enforceable under an Australian law or a foreign law.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade cannot provide advice on whether your arrangement is legally binding.

If in doubt, you may consider getting independent legal advice.

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme is designed to capture both foreign arrangements and subsidiary arrangements. 

Under the Scheme, an arrangement is a subsidiary arrangement if the arrangement was entered under the auspices of the foreign arrangement and the arrangement is not itself a foreign arrangement. This means that an arrangement to which a State/Territory entity and a foreign entity is a party will always be considered a foreign arrangement even if it is itself entered under the auspices of another foreign arrangement.

A detailed definition of ‘subsidiary arrangement’ is contained in Section 4 of the Act.

Yes, you are required to notify the Minister under the Scheme.

Under the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, you will be required to notify the Minister through the Portal if your arrangement is between a State/Territory entity and a foreign entity, irrespective of whether or not other entities are also a party to the arrangement.

You should contact other Australian government parties to the arrangement to inform them that you have provided notification under the Scheme.

Only one State/Territory entity needs to notify a multi-party arrangement to the Minister. Where multiple State/Territory entities are parties to a foreign arrangement, they should coordinate to ensure at least one party makes the notification. The Foreign Arrangements Branch will direct subsequent engagement on that specific arrangement through the notifying party.

However, there is no prohibition on all parties notifying the arrangement. It is important to consider the circumstances in which it may not be sufficient for only one party to notify the arrangement. These could include, for example:

• Where one party has information about a multi-party arrangement that they would like and/or need to provide separately
  • in this case, that party should make a separate notification. This notification may include information relevant to any decision the Minister may make, for example, information addressing the factors listed in subsection 51(2).
• If one party has subsidiary arrangements which would not be notified by other parties, that party would need to notify those subsidiary arrangements separately.

Yes. Under the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, State/Territory entities are required to notify the Minister at various stages of the foreign arrangements process.

The obligation to notify the Minister of prospective arrangements commenced on 10 March 2021. This applies to all arrangements entered into on or after 10 March 2021.

Depending on whether the prospective arrangement is a core foreign arrangement, or a non-core foreign arrangement, your obligations under the Scheme will differ.

Under the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, which commenced on 10 December 2020, Australian states, territories, public universities and local governments are required to notify the Foreign Minister of any pre-existing arrangements. A pre-existing arrangement is an arrangement that was in operation between 10 December 2020 and 9 March 2021.

Pre-existing core arrangements were required to be notified by 10 March 2021. Any pre-existing core arrangement that was not notified by the 10 March 2021 deadline is invalid and unenforceable.

Pre-existing non-core arrangements were required to be notified by 10 June 2021.

The deadline for notifying pre-existing arrangements involving schools (core and non-core) was 10 June 2021. 

If you become aware of a pre-existing arrangement after the deadline, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch at foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au 

You can notify the Minister of a pre-existing arrangement through the Portal.

Yes, under the Foreign Arrangements Scheme the Minister can require variation or termination of an arrangement if she or he is satisfied that the arrangement:

• adversely affects, or is likely to adversely affect, Australia’s foreign relations; or
• is, or is likely to be, inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy.

Yes.

If the variation was at the request of the Minister, you will be required to upload materials to the Portal that demonstrate that you have complied with the Minister’s declaration to vary the arrangement.

If the variation was not at the request of the Minister, you will be required to notify the Minister of the variation through the Portal in the same way you are required to notify the Minister of a new arrangement. A detailed definition of variations of arrangements is at section 13(2)

Under the rules a variation of an arrangement might be exempt if you have given previous notice to the Minister under the Scheme and it is a minor variation that does not alter the substance of the arrangements (for example, a variation that alters the number of students involved in a student exchange under an arrangement from 6 to 5).

If you are unclear about your notification requirements, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch: foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au

State/Territory entities were required to notify pre-existing core foreign arrangements to the Minister by 10 March 2021. Any pre-existing core arrangements not notified by 10 March 2021 are automatically invalidated.

The timeframe for notifying a pre-existing core foreign arrangement involving a school was extended to 10 June 2021, following an amendment to the rules on 9 March 2021.

For pre-existing non-core foreign arrangements, a State/Territory entity had until 10 June 2021 to notify the Minister. 

If you are unclear about your notification requirements, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch: foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au

Yes.

Under the Scheme, if the Minister requests that you terminate your arrangement, you must notify any foreign entities that are party to the arrangement of that fact.

Once you have terminated that arrangement, you must notify the Minister in writing, as soon as practicable, that you have complied with the declaration.

If you would like to know more about the Scheme, you can read the material included on the ‘Resources’ tab on the website.

The Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 is publicly available.

The public register is a public record of foreign arrangements, and the Minister’s decisions about them, that can be accessed on the website.

No.

The information that will be included on the register will be:

• the title of the arrangement
• the parties to the arrangement
• whether any decisions were made by the minister in relation to the arrangement and the dates of those decisions
• any information prescribed by the rules.

The register does not include information that is commercially sensitive, would disclose any information prepared for or discussed in the Cabinet of a state or territory, is the subject of legal professional privilege, is protected by public interest immunity or affects national security.

If you believe that sensitive information has been added to the public register by mistake, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch:  foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au

When an entity gives notice on the Portal, it should include all relevant information about the arrangement.

The register will not include information that the Minister is satisfied is commercially sensitive, would disclose any information prepared for or discussed in the Cabinet of a state or territory, is the subject of legal professional privilege, is protected by public interest immunity or affects national security.

Entities should identify information that meet these criteria, if they wish for it to be omitted from the Public Register.

Only an authorised user of the Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal can provide notice of an arrangement entered by their entity.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has made updates to the Portal to provide greater control to State/Territory entities to authorise and manage their users.

DFAT encourages entities to consider if a user is the appropriate organisational contact when authorising their access.

No.

If you have registered an arrangement in error, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch: foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au

Please contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au

Supporting attachments can be up to 2GB.

You must upload a copy of the foreign arrangement, and any other information you need in support of your notification, including in relation to s51(2) of the Act.

Once you have entered details of an arrangement, you can save your entry and return to it later. 

No. There are no costs involved with registering an arrangement under the Scheme.

Your username will be your registered email address. If you have forgotten your password, you can reset it by clicking the Forgot Your Password link on the Foreign Arrangements Scheme Portal log in page.

Yes.

When you access the Portal using a supported web browser, Transport Layer Security (TLS) technology protects your information using both server authentication and data encryption. When you log in, you will see a small lock icon at the beginning of the address URL, indicating that a secure connection has been established.

Yes, an entity can authorise as many users and have as many log-ons for the Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal as they consider appropriate.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) encourages entities to consider if a user is the appropriate organisational contact when authorising their access.

International and regional organisations, for example the European Commission, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), do not meet the definition of ‘foreign entity’ under the Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 (the Act), and therefore do not require notification under the Scheme. The definition of ‘foreign entity’ encompasses a foreign country, its national government and departments and agencies, as well as sub-national governments, public authorities, and foreign universities without institutional autonomy. Arrangements with international and regional organisations only require notification where a ‘foreign entity’, as defined under the Act, is also a party to that arrangement.

Access to the Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal is controlled by an Administrator or Master Administrator within your organisation, who can create an account for you. 

If you believe that your organisation does not currently have a Master Administrator or Administrator with access to Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch. 

Yes. If you are an Administrator or Master Administrator user for the Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal you can create another user. 

Yes. If you are an Administrator or Master Administrator user for the Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal you can suspend another user of a lower user-type. 

Yes. Any Master Administrator or Administrator that a standard user reports to for the purposes of the Online Portal can view draft arrangements created by a standard user. 

Check you are selecting the right organisation. If, after having confirmed the organisation and user details, the error persists, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch with screenshots of the error encountered. 

If you believe that your organisation does not currently have access to Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal, please contact the Foreign Arrangements Branch. 

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal utilises a default sharing approach through user hierarchy, allowing any user that you report to for the purposes of the Online Portal, to view and edit notifications. 

Arrangements notified will be published on the Public Register once they have been screened and relevant exemptions from publication have been considered.

If a State/Territory entity notifies the Minister of an arrangement that is deemed not to be in scope, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will advise the State/Territory entity directly.

The Foreign Arrangements Scheme Online Portal allows a State/Territory entity to add and manage users in their organisations using three tiers of user type:

• Master Administrator
• Administrator
• Standard User

Depending on a user’s tier, they will be able to add and manage users underneath them. A user designated as Master Administrator will have the ability to manage all users in their organisation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) encourages entities to consider if a user is the appropriate organisational contact when authorising their access.

State/Territory entities manage Portal user access and authorisation within their organisations. To access the Portal, you should contact a Master Administrator or Administrator in your organisation.

If you cannot identify a Master Administrator or Administrator in your organisation, or believe that your organisation has not registered under the Scheme, please contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on foreignarrangements@dfat.gov.au.