The Albanese Government welcomes the findings of the independent review of the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, led by Ms Rosemary Huxtable AO PSM.
The Government has accepted all 23 recommendations of the review. We are taking action to strengthen, clarify and streamline the Scheme in line with the review's recommendations.
The Foreign Arrangements Scheme is a key part of the Government's broader resilience strategy, protecting critical sectors of Australian society from foreign interference.
The Scheme has been successfully deployed to raise foreign policy awareness with state and territory governments, local governments and universities, and to ensure arrangements between them and foreign entities support Australia's national interest.
The Government is committed to reforming the Scheme to ensure it remains effective and responsive to an increasingly complex international environment. These reforms will:
- sharpen the Scheme's focus on arrangements that pose higher foreign policy or national security risks
- reduce the regulatory and compliance burden for low-risk engagements.
Changes to the Foreign Arrangements Scheme will help ensure Australia can continue to engage globally while safeguarding our national interests, and will support the creation of economic and cultural links that are consistent with our foreign policy.
The report of the independent review of the Scheme and the Government response can be found on the Foreign Arrangements Scheme website.
