{"id":"C2015A00134","name":"Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Act 2015","slug":"asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-act-2015","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"134 of 2015","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436276,"registerId":"C2015A00134-fast-fetch-1775953516926","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Act 2015","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAsian Infrastructure Investment Bank Act 2015\n\n \n\nNo. 134, 2015\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act relating to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Simplified outline of this Act\n\n4 Definitions\n\n5 Payments required to be made to the Bank\n\n6 Issue of promissory notes\n\n7 Appropriation\n\n8 Privileges and immunities\n\n9 Regulations\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nAsian Infrastructure Investment Bank Act 2015\n\nNo. 134, 2015\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act relating to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 13 October 2015]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Act 2015.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. Sections 1 and 2 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 13 October 2015\n- 2. Sections 3 to 9 The later of:(a) the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent; and(b) the day Australia becomes a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.The Minister must announce by notice in the Gazette the day Australia becomes a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The notice is not a legislative instrument. 25 December 2015(C2016G00070)(paragraph (b) applies)\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Simplified outline of this Act\n\n• This Act facilitates Australia’s membership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.\n\n• Australia may make a payment to the Bank:\n\n (a) if Australia is required to make the payment by way of subscription to shares in the Bank; or\n\n (b) if Australia is otherwise required to make the payment in accordance with the Bank Agreement.\n\n• The Minister may, on behalf of Australia, make promissory notes and issue them to the Bank.\n\n• Regulations may confer privileges and immunities on:\n\n (a) the Bank; and\n\n (b) officers and employees of the Bank; and\n\n (c) experts and consultants performing missions or services for the Bank.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n  In this Act:\n\nBank means the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.\n\nBank Agreement means the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Articles of Agreement, done at Beijing on 29 June 2015, as amended from time to time.\n\nNote: The Bank Agreement could in 2015 be viewed:\n\n(a) on the Bank’s website (http://www.aiibank.org); or\n\n(b) in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).\n\npayment includes a payment in a foreign currency.\n\n5  Payments required to be made to the Bank\n\nShare subscription\n\n (1) If Australia is required, under the Bank Agreement, to subscribe to shares of the capital stock of the Bank, Australia may make a payment for or by way of:\n\n (a) such a subscription; or\n\n (b) an instalment of such a subscription.\n\nOther payments\n\n (2) Australia may make any other payment to the Bank that Australia is required to make in accordance with the Bank Agreement.\n\n6  Issue of promissory notes\n\n (1) The Minister may, on behalf of Australia, make promissory notes and issue them to the Bank.\n\n (2) A promissory note made under subsection (1) is to be:\n\n (a) non‑negotiable; and\n\n (b) non‑interest‑bearing; and\n\n (c) payable to the Bank at par value upon demand.\n\n7  Appropriation\n\n  The Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated for the purposes of making:\n\n (a) payments under section 5; and\n\n (b) payments under promissory notes made under section 6, so long as the promissory notes were made for the purposes of making a payment that Australia is required to make to the Bank in accordance with the Bank Agreement.\n\n8  Privileges and immunities\n\n (1) The regulations may confer on the Bank such privileges and immunities as are necessary or desirable to give effect to Chapter IX of the Bank Agreement.\n\n (2) The regulations may confer on the following individuals:\n\n (a) Governors of the Bank;\n\n (b) Directors of the Bank;\n\n (c) Alternate Directors of the Bank;\n\n (d) the President of the Bank;\n\n (e) Vice‑Presidents of the Bank;\n\n (f) other officers and employees of the Bank;\n\n (g) experts and consultants performing missions or services for the Bank;\n\nsuch privileges and immunities as are necessary or desirable to give effect to Article 50 of the Bank Agreement.\n\n (3) The regulations may confer on the following individuals:\n\n (a) Directors of the Bank;\n\n (b) Alternate Directors of the Bank;\n\n (c) the President of the Bank;\n\n (d) Vice‑Presidents of the Bank;\n\n (e) other officers and employees of the Bank;\n\n (f) experts and consultants performing missions or services for the Bank;\n\nsuch privileges and immunities as are necessary or desirable to give effect to paragraph 2 of Article 51 of the Bank Agreement.\n\n (4) The privileges and immunities conferred by the regulations are privileges and immunities in relation to the operation of the laws of the Commonwealth and of the laws of the States and Territories.\n\n (5) This section does not limit the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963.\n\n9  Regulations\n\n  The Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters:\n\n (a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or\n\n (b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 13 August 2015\n\nSenate on 7 September 2015]\n\n(128/15)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is narrowly enabling and confined to the single purpose of allowing Australia to meet membership obligations to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: authorising payments (including share subscriptions), permitting issuance of specified promissory notes, appropriating public funds for those obligations, and allowing regulations to implement privileges and immunities. It does not expand beyond that original, instrumental purpose in its text."},"complexity_factors":["Short length: 9 substantive sections.","Small number of defined terms (Bank; Bank Agreement; payment) in s4.","Key cross‑references to an external instrument (the Bank Agreement) which contains most operational detail.","Delegation of detail to regulations (s8–s9) — substantive effects depend on subordinate instruments.","Conditional commencement tied to Australia’s membership of the Bank (s2), creating a temporal condition.","Simple, constrained financial mechanics (authorisation to pay; promissory notes with three explicit conditions in s6).","Limited exception/cross‑statutory interaction: non‑limitation of the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 (s8(5))."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanical effect)**\n\n- Enables Australia to meet the monetary and legal obligations of joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (the Bank). (See sections 3 and 5.)\n\n- Allows Australia to make payments required by the Bank Agreement, including paying for subscriptions to the Bank’s capital stock and instalments of those subscriptions. (s5)\n\n- Authorises the Commonwealth Minister to make and issue promissory notes to the Bank on Australia’s behalf. Those promissory notes must be non‑negotiable, non‑interest‑bearing and payable at par on demand. (s6)\n\n- Appropriates the Consolidated Revenue Fund to meet: (a) payments under s5; and (b) payments under promissory notes issued under s6, but only where the promissory notes are made for the purpose of meeting an obligation under the Bank Agreement. (s7)\n\n- Gives the Governor‑General power to make regulations. Regulations may confer on the Bank, and on specified Bank officials, the privileges and immunities necessary or desirable to give effect to the Bank Agreement’s chapters and articles identified in the Act. Those immunities relate to the operation of Commonwealth, State and Territory laws. (s8–s9)\n\n- Sets when the Act takes effect: some short provisions commence on assent; the operative parts commence when Australia becomes a member of the Bank (the Minister must publish the membership day). (s2)\n\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- The Commonwealth (who must pay and who can issue promissory notes) — payments hit the Consolidated Revenue Fund (s7).\n- The Bank (recipient of subscription payments and promissory notes) (s5–s6).\n- Bank officials, experts and consultants who may receive privileges and immunities through regulations (s8).\n- Australian taxpayers indirectly, because public funds are appropriated to meet the obligations (s7).\n\n\n**Why it matters (official purpose and practical implications)**\n\n- Officially, the Act exists to let Australia become a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank by providing the legal powers needed to make required payments and to implement the Bank Agreement in domestic law. (s3, s5–s9.)\n\n- Practical implications and the trade‑offs to note:\n  - Who pays: obligations are satisfied from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (s7), so the fiscal cost ultimately falls on public finances/taxpayers.\n  - How obligations can be discharged: the government can pay in cash or give the Bank promissory notes that are non‑interest‑bearing and payable on demand (s6). That changes the timing and form of the Commonwealth’s cash outflows.\n  - Executive discretion: the Minister is authorised to issue promissory notes (s6) and the Governor‑General (via regulation) may grant immunities and privileges to the Bank and its staff (s8–s9). That creates delegated decision‑making points where the details will be set outside primary legislation.\n  - Legal scope of privileges: the Act limits conferrals to what is necessary or desirable to give effect to specified Articles/Chapters of the Bank Agreement (s8). It also explicitly does not displace the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 (s8(5)).\n  - Compliance and administrative burden: the Act itself is minimal; the bulk of operational detail (e.g. exact immunities, practical arrangements for promissory notes and payments, currency and instalment timing) will be handled by regulation, ministerial action and the Bank Agreement. That shifts complexity into subordinate instruments and bilateral/administrative arrangements.\n  - Market and private sector effects: the Act does not impose regulatory obligations on private businesses. Its primary economic effect is on public finances (payments and contingent liabilities if promissory notes are called). It does not change contract freedom or competition law directly.\n\n\n**Costs, incentives and risks**\n\n- Concentrated benefit: the Bank (and, indirectly, project borrowers) receives capital subscription and other payments. (s5)\n- Diffuse cost: the fiscal cost is borne by the Commonwealth budget/taxpayers through appropriation from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. (s7)\n- Substitution risk: issuing non‑interest, on‑demand promissory notes changes cash‑flow timing for the Commonwealth relative to immediate cash payments; if the Bank calls notes aggressively, the Commonwealth may face concentrated short‑term cash demands. (s6–s7)\n- Regulatory discretion and legal risk: conferral of immunities by regulation creates executive discretion about the extent and practical operation of immunities in domestic law; the Act ties that discretion to the Bank Agreement’s Articles but leaves detail to regulation. (s8–s9)\n- Implementation risk: many operational details are external to the Act (timing of instalments, currency, practical issuance of notes and their records), so errors or delays in subordinate arrangements could produce budgetary or legal uncertainty.\n\n\n**Sections to look at for detail**\n\n- Definitions and scope: s4 (defines Bank and Bank Agreement).\n- Payments: s5.\n- Promissory notes: s6.\n- Appropriation: s7.\n- Privileges and immunities and the regulation power: s8–s9.\n\n\nOverall, the Act is a narrowly‑targeted enabling statute that authorises payments, issuance of a limited form of promissory note, appropriation from public funds for those obligations, and the making of regulations to give effect to immunities and privileges under the Bank Agreement."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: facilitating Australia's membership of the AIIB through financial contributions and legal protections. No significant scope creep is evident."},"complexity_factors":["Only 9 sections total, with most under 100 words","Minimal defined terms (only 3: 'Bank', 'Bank Agreement', 'payment')","No cross-references to other Acts except a single non-limiting reference to the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963","Straightforward conditional logic — simple 'if-then' structures in sections 5 and 7","No nested exceptions or complex procedural requirements","Purpose-built, narrow scope with no ancillary provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This law allows Australia to join and financially support the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a China-led development bank that funds infrastructure projects across Asia.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Authorises payments**: Lets Australia pay money to the AIIB, either as a share subscription (buying a stake in the bank) or other required contributions.\n- **Allows promissory notes**: Lets the Minister issue formal IOUs to the AIIB — these are promises to pay later, which the bank can cash in when needed.\n- **Provides funding**: Automatically sets aside government money (from the Consolidated Revenue Fund) to cover these payments.\n- **Grants legal protections**: Allows regulations to give the AIIB and its staff special legal privileges and immunities (protections from certain laws and taxes) similar to other international organisations.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Australian taxpayers (whose money funds the subscriptions)\n- The AIIB and its employees operating in Australia\n- The Minister responsible for issuing promissory notes\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law formalises Australia's membership in a major regional development bank, giving Australia a seat at the table in decisions about billions of dollars in Asian infrastructure investment, while ensuring the bank's staff can operate without legal interference."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-act-2015","history":"/api/acts/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-act-2015/history","analysis":"/api/acts/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-act-2015/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-act-2015/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-act-2015/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-act-2015/documents"}}