The Treasurer has tabled the second annual report from the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets in Parliament and we've published it on our website. The Register is a definitive source of information on foreign ownership in Australia.
The Report contains information on foreign-owned Australian assets at 30 June 2025. It's supplemented by aggregated data, including for prior years, which is available on data.gov.auExternal Link for further analysis and exploration.
The Report covers registered interests across the following types of assets with registration requirements:
- agricultural land
- business interests
- commercial land
- mining or production tenements and exploration tenements
- residential land
- water interests.
Datasets for newer asset classes – including commercial land, mining tenements, and business interests – will continue to grow and deepen over time as registrations accumulate. In contrast, the datasets for agricultural land, water interests, and residential land are now well established, providing a robust multi-year view of ownership patterns in these sectors.
Some observations on foreign ownership captured in the 2024–25 report include:
- The number of residential properties acquired by foreign persons decreased from 6,265 in the 2023–24 financial year to 4,623 in 2024–25.
- Of the total acquisitions by foreign persons, the proportion of established dwelling acquisitions also decreased from 32.9% to 22%. This decrease follows the tripling of application fees for established dwellings in April 2024 and the ban on acquisitions of established dwellings, which came into effect in Q4 of 2024–25.
- The proportion of all Australian residential property acquisitions that were made by foreign persons also decreased to 0.5%, down from 0.8% in the prior year.
- Foreign ownership of agricultural land at 30 June 2025 increased slightly from the prior year to 13.0% (compared with 12.7% at 30 June 2024).
- Foreign ownership of water interests at 30 June 2025 increased slightly from the prior year to 12.7% (compared with 12.3% at 30 June 2024).
Foreign persons (including temporary residents and foreign-owned companies) have legal obligations to:
- register interests in the specified Australian assets on the Register
- ensure these records are kept up to date.
Registrations can be made and maintained using the ATO’s Online services for foreign investors.
For more information about the Register and its functions, see about the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets.
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