Registration of commercial land for foreign investors

Registering an asset

If you are a foreign investor, you or your authorised representative must register your Australian asset after both of the following has occurred:

• you have applied and received foreign investment approval if required – see, Guidance Note 4 at foreigninvestment.gov.auExternal Link
• you have become the owner of the asset.

You register your asset using Online services for foreign investorsExternal Link. Registration is free.

You must also register a legal interest as lessee in a lease giving rights to occupy commercial land if the term of the lease (including any extension or renewal) is reasonably likely to exceed 5 years, at the time the interest is acquired.

Registration is required regardless of the value.

Who must register

If you are a foreign person and have invested in Australian commercial land from 1 July 2023, you or your authorised representative must register the asset, unless an exemption applies. Generally, the person with the direct legal interest is required to register the commercial land with us, the Australian Taxation Office.

Joint tenants

If you have direct legal interest and own property jointly with one or more foreign investors, one owner must register the asset first. Other foreign owners in the joint tenant ownership will then add themselves to the registered asset.

You need to decide which owner will register the property. Once registered, that owner will need to give the other joint tenants the Asset ID. They will then add themselves to the asset.

Once all foreign owners are added, any owner can access and update the registered asset details.

Tenants in common

If the asset is owned with others and assigned specific ownership, each individual foreign person must register the asset with their percentage of ownership.

When to register

A foreign person or their authorised representative must register any interest, other than an equitable interest acquired in commercial land that occurred on or after 1 July 2023, within 30 days of either:

• purchasing commercial land (settlement)
• becoming a foreign person while holding an interest in commercial land
• becoming aware they have an interest in commercial land, which has changed in nature from another type of Australian land.

Exemptions may apply, see Guidance Note 15External Link.

Settlement is when you can occupy the property if there is a building on it or you can commence building on vacant land.

How to register your investment in Australian commercial land

To register, log in to Online services for foreign investors and select Register asset.

For more information on registering and for joint tenants to add themselves to the asset, see How to register or manage an asset for foreign investors.

If you own multiple properties, each property must be registered separately.

Log in to Online services for foreign investors

If your situation changes

You'll need to update your details in Online services for foreign investorsExternal Link if:

• you are no longer a foreign person, see Guidance Note 2 at foreigninvestment.gov.auExternal Link
• your contact details change
• you no longer hold commercial land
• other Australian land that you hold becomes commercial land
• the land ceases to be commercial while you are holding it
• you become a foreign person while holding commercial land
• details of the registration change, such as partial divestment, title, or use of land.

If your:

• personal details change, update your profile – see Manage your details in Online services for foreign investors
• asset details change, update the asset using Add or Edit an event – see How to register or manage an asset for foreign investors.

Penalties and reporting breaches

If you do not comply with your obligations to give a register notice or keep your details up to date, you may face an infringement notice or civil penalties.

As a foreign investor, you should know your obligationsExternal Link and comply with Australia's foreign investment rules. Together with Treasury, we take compliance actionExternal Link if a foreign investor breaches the foreign investment rules.

If you have information about someone you think may be deliberately breaking our foreign investment rules, you can confidentially report a breach to us.

If you are having difficulties meeting your obligations, contact us.

Statistics and reporting

The Registrar provides a report to the Treasurer about the operation of the Register. They publish aggregate statistics of foreign ownership.

The reported statistics may include:

• number of acquisitions and divestments
• value of foreign held commercial land
• land use of foreign held commercial land
• value of foreign held commercial and by country of ownership.

Only aggregated statistics are included in the report. Privacy restrictions prevent publishing information which may identify an individual or entity.

You can view the latest report on the Foreign InvestmentExternal Link website.