Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017
The submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security regarding the proposed measures contained in the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017 (the Bill) was prepared by the Law Council and acknowledges the assistance of Law Firms Australia, the Law Council’s National Integrity Working Group, Business Law Section, Not-for-Profit Legal Practice and Charities Group of the Legal Practice Section, National Human Rights Committee, National Criminal Law Committee, National Human Rights Committee and the Queensland Law Society.
The Bill, if enacted, would establish the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme to:
- require registration by certain persons undertaking certain activities on behalf of a foreign principal;
- require registrants to disclose information about the nature of their relationship with the foreign principal and activities undertaken pursuant to that relationship; place additional disclosure requirements on registrants during elections and other voting periods;
- establish a register of scheme information and provide for certain information to be made publicly available;
- provide the secretary with powers to obtain information and documents; and establish various penalties for non-compliance with the scheme.
You can read the full submission below.