Foreign Investment Review Board: How Australia Screens Foreign Buyers of Farmland and Strategic Assets

The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) is a non-statutory body established on 2 April 1976 to advise the Treasurer of Australia on foreign investment policy and proposals. Its legal basis is the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975. Crucially, FIRB's role is purely advisory: the legal authority to approve, reject, or impose conditions on foreign investment rests with the Treasurer. FIRB assesses proposals against a national interest test for most cases and a national security test for others. The national interest covers a broad range of considerations including competition and tax implications, not just security. Its functions include evaluating proposals, encouraging Australian equity participation, monitoring foreign-controlled businesses, and liaising with state and local governments. Farmland draws particular scrutiny. Foreign investors generally must notify the Treasurer of agricultural land acquisitions once a cumulative threshold of about A$15 million is reached (counting the proposed deal plus all agricultural land the investor and associates already hold); the threshold is A$0 for foreign-government investors, who must notify all such investments. Foreign holdings of agricultural land and water rights are recorded in the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets. Because of this regime, a foreign company attempting to buy a large share of Australia's farmland would be screened and could be blocked on national interest grounds, as discussed in Why Market Cap Can't Buy a Country: Paper Valuations vs. Physical Asset Value.