The Australian Treasury has unveiled a new Foreign Investment Portal for lodgement and processing of FIRB applications. Submission of FIRB applications though the new portal will remove the need for a long form cover letter and create a more standardised application, which Treasury is hopeful will reduce application preparation and processing times and provide a more streamlined experience for all applicants.
What is changing?
Lodging an application for FIRB approval using the new portal will no longer require applicants to provide a cover letter. Cover letters are currently long form and applicant driven, often with unstructured data and large volumes of information, and often not all required information is provided. This can result in a Q&A process which exacerbates application processing times.
The new portal will use a ‘dynamic’ form that will ask questions which prompt input of the necessary details of the acquirer and the transaction and then ask further tailored questions in response to the information submitted. Treasury guidance will be available during various stages of the form.
Treasury anticipates this form will provide a more structured and streamlined application process, ensuring that all necessary information is provided upfront. The form will have opportunities for additional information to be provided by way of free form text and for the upload of attachments. It will also generate the draft wording to be provided in the “no objection” letter which can be amended by the applicant to reflect the wording required, which will remove the need for negotiation of that at the end of the process.
In addition to its ‘dynamic’ features, users can save partially completed forms, or download draft incomplete forms for internal circulation or review by applicants when the lodging party is an agent for the applicant. Once submitted, users can track their application status via the portal and can directly contact Treasury regarding their application via the portal (rather than by phone or email) and pay any fees within the portal. Links for applicants to pay fees outside the portal will also be provided where an agent has lodged the application.
The portal itself does not however change the FIRB rules and guidelines themselves.
What do I need to access the portal?
The new portal will use a Digital ID (now used across many Australian Government departments and services) to verify identity. There are 2 types of Digital ID that users can obtain, as summarised below:
| Level | Identity Requirements | Access Level |
|---|---|---|
|
Basic (IP1) |
Requires an Email Address OR Phone Number. |
Submit compliance reports and communicate with Treasury. |
|
Standard (IP2) |
Typically, 2 Australian Identity Documents (eg, Passport or Licence). For investors who do not have Australian identity documents, Treasury can provide a manual identity verification process to enable full access to the portal. |
Link to an account, make submissions, submit compliance reports, and communicate with Treasury. |
Sourced and adapted from the Treasury FAQs
The Digital ID is only required for persons who actually access the portal, which means applicants who are using an agent (such as HSF) to lodge an application will not need to create a Digital ID.
When does the new portal go live?
The portal will go into a testing phase with a volunteer group of applicants and agents in March/April 2025 and is targeted to go live for all submissions from the end of April 2025. Additionally, from 24 February 2025 onwards, users will be able to create an account to communicate with Treasury and to submit via the portal compliance reports required by conditions of existing FIRB approvals.
If you have any queries regarding the new portal, please contact Nicholas Cowie, Partner or your usual Herbert Smith Freehills real estate contact.
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