Foreign ownership of Aussie farmland report two years out of date

Two key government reports detailing the scale of foreign investment into the nation’s farms are yet to be published.

The scale of foreign ownership of Australian farmland and water entitlements remain unclear and out of date by more than two years, with a pair of key government reports yet to be published.

The Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Land, to be delivered via the Australian Taxation Office, is meant to be updated annually, but is currently more than two years out of date. The most recent available report only covers foreign farmland ownership up to June 2023.

That report itself was delayed, only released in November last year - 17 months after the end of the 2022-23 financial year.

The register of foreign land ownership has since been replaced by the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets. Its first report covering to June 30, 2024 is still awaiting publication - 13 months after the end of the 2023-24 financial year.

“The new register will replace and amalgamate existing registers and expand the classes of assets reported to include commercial land, business interests and mining or production tenements and exploration tenements,” an ATO spokesperson said.

Both the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Land to June 2024 and the Quarterly Report on Foreign Investment December 2024 quarter are yet to be published.

Meanwhile, the federal Treasury’s Foreign Investment Review Board has also not released a quarterly report on foreign investment in Australia since February this year, which covered transactions between July and September 2024.

Details on foreign agricultural investment between October and December 2024 are yet to be published and now more than six months old.

NFF president David Jochinke said up-to-date investment figures were needed to help guide agricultural policy and attract capital into the sector.

“Timely and accurate data on investment levels is important to help inform industry settings,” he said.

“With nearly $9bn in additional annual capital needed to achieve our ambitious target of a $100bn farmgate value by 2030, both foreign and domestic sources of investment will play a crucial role in the success of the sector over the coming decades.”
In the September quarter of last year, foreign investment spiked significantly with $1.6bn worth of deals approved, compared to the $400m approved in the previous quarter.

There were 50 approved deals in the September quarter, at an average of $32m, compared to 40 deals at an average of $10m in the June quarter.

In the 2023-24 financial year there was $5.3bn worth of foreign investment into Australian farmland approved through 134 deals at an average of $39.552m.

The Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Land report showed the level of foreign ownership fell by 0.3 per cent from 47.709 million hectares at June 30, 2022 to 47.561 million hectares at June 30, 2023.