{"id":"F2017L00833","name":"Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Rules 2017","slug":"register-of-foreign-ownership-of-water-or-agricultural-land-rules-2017","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439230,"registerId":"F2017L00833-fast-fetch-1775955336179","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Rules 2017","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.jpeg)\n\n \n\nRegister of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Rules 2017\n\nI, Michael Sven Sukkar, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, make the following rules.\n\n \n\nDated 28 June 2017\n\nMichael Sven Sukkar\n\nAssistant Minister to the Treasurer\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\nPart 2—Kinds of land that is not agricultural land\n\n5  Land that is not agricultural land\n\nPart 3—Kinds of rights that are not registerable water entitlements\n\n6  Private harvestable rainwater rights\n\n7  Certain rights held by an irrigation infrastructure operator\n\nPart 4—Exemptions from requirements to give notice\n\n8  Exemption for persons holding freehold interests or other rights because of enforcement of securities for moneylending agreements\n\n9  Exemption for persons holding water entitlements or contractual water rights because of enforcement of securities for moneylending agreements\n\n10  Exemption for persons in which foreign custodian corporations have interests\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nRegister of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land Rule 2015\n\n \n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Rules 2017.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences on 1 July 2017. \n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 35(1) of the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Act 2015.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Act 2015.\n\nforeign person has the same meaning as in the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975.\n\nholding entity has the same meaning as in the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975.\n\nirrigation infrastructure operator has the same meaning as in the Water Act 2007.\n\nirrigation right has the same meaning as in the Water Act 2007.\n\nmoneylending agreement has the same meaning as in the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015.\n\nsubsidiary has the same meaning as in the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975.\n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\nPart 2—Kinds of land that is not agricultural land\n\n5  Land that is not agricultural land\n\nFor section 5 of the Act, land is not agricultural land for the purposes of the Act if the land is not agricultural land for the purposes of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 because of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015.\n\n\n\n\nPart 3—Kinds of rights that are not registrable water entitlements\n\n6  Private harvestable rainwater rights\n\nFor paragraph 5A(2)(d) of the Act, a registrable water entitlement does not include a right, conferred by or under a law of a State or Territory, to capture, store or take rainfall for stock and domestic purposes.\n\n7  Certain rights held by an irrigation infrastructure operator   \n\n(1)  For paragraph 5A(2)(d) of the Act, a registrable water entitlement does not include a right held by an irrigation infrastructure operator to the extent that another person has an irrigation right in relation to water that may be held or taken from a water resource by the irrigation infrastructure operator.\n\n(2) For paragraph 5A(2)(d) of the Act, a registrable water entitlement does not include a right held by an irrigation infrastructure operator to the extent that it is conveyance water.\n\nNote:  Any right that an irrigation infrastructure operator retains after allowing for the operation of this subsections (1) and (2) may be a registrable water entitlement for s 5A(1) of the Act.\n\n(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), conveyance water means the additional water that is required to deliver water to water users, including water lost in transit from its source to end users due to seepage, leakage, evaporation or other similar effects.\n\n(4)  Subsection (1) and (2) applies whether the person started to hold the right described in that subsection before, on or after the commencement of this section.\n\n \n\n\n\n\nPart 4—Exemptions from requirements to give notice\n\n8  Exemption for persons holding freehold interests or other rights because of enforcement of securities for moneylending agreements\n\n(1)  For section 30 of the Act, Part 3 of the Act does not apply to a person if:\n\n (a) the person started to hold the person’s :\n\n  (i)  freehold interest in agricultural land; or\n\n (ii) right to occupy agricultural land described in 19(1)(b), 21(b), 22(b), 23(b), 24(b), 25(b) or 26(b) of the Act;\n\nby way of enforcement of a security held solely for the purposes of a moneylending agreement; and\n\n (b) the person is either:\n\n(i) the person (the first person) who entered the moneylending agreement; or\n\n(ii)  a subsidiary or holding entity of the first person.\n\n(2)  Subsection (1) applies whether the person started to hold the right as described in that subsection before, on or after the commencement of this section.\n\n9  Exemption for persons holding water entitlements or contractual water rights because of enforcement of securities for moneylending agreements\n\n(1)  For section 30U of the Act, Part 3B of the Act does not apply to a person if:\n\n (a) the person started to hold the person’s :\n\n  (i)  registrable water entitlement; or\n\n (ii) contractual water right described in paragraph 30H(1)(b), 30L(b) 30M(b), 30N(b), 30P(b), or 30Q(b) of the Act;\n\nby way of enforcement of a security held solely for the purposes of a moneylending agreement; and\n\n (b) the person is either:\n\n (i) the person (the first person) who entered the moneylending agreement; or\n\n(ii)  a subsidiary or holding entity of the first person.\n\n(2)  Subsection (1) applies whether the person started to hold the right as described in that subsection before, on or after the commencement of this section.\n\n10  Exemption for persons in which foreign custodian corporations have interests\n\n(1)  For section 30 of the Act, Part 3 of the Act does not apply to a foreign person at a particular time if, at that time, the conditions in subsection 41A(2) of the Foreign Acquisition and Takeover Regulation 2015 are met in relation to the foreign person.\n\n \n\n\n\n\n(2)  For section 30U of the Act, Part 3B of the Act does not apply to a foreign person at a particular time if, at that time the conditions in subsection 41A(2) of the Foreign Acquisition and Takeover Regulation 2015 are met in relation to the foreign person.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nRegister of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land Rule 2015\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"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":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose of operationalising the 2015 Act through specific exclusions and exemptions. It does not expand the register's coverage or introduce new policy objectives beyond implementing the parent Act's framework."},"complexity_factors":["Heavy reliance on external definitions — 7 terms defined by reference to other legislation (Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015, Water Act 2007)","Nested conditional logic in exemptions — sections 8 and 9 require satisfaction of multiple cumulative conditions (enforcement of security + moneylending purpose + specific entity relationship)","Cross-referencing to specific paragraph numbers in the parent Act (e.g., 'paragraph 30H(1)(b), 30L(b) 30M(b)...') creating dependency on external statutory structure","Temporal extension clauses — subsections 7(4), 8(2), and 9(2) explicitly apply rules retrospectively, before/on/after commencement","Technical water industry concepts requiring specialised knowledge ('irrigation infrastructure operator', 'irrigation right', 'conveyance water', 'registrable water entitlement')","Dual structure — rules apply separately to land (Part 3 of Act) and water (Part 3B of Act) with parallel but distinct exemption provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"The 2017 Rules under the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Act 2015 clarify what counts as agricultural land and which water rights and holders must be registered, and they exempt certain routine cases from reporting.  \n\nThey affect foreign buyers of farms and water, lenders, irrigation operators and the Treasury, and keep the register focused on substantive foreign investment while avoiding needless entries from normal lending or water‑delivery operations."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument replaces the 2015 Rule (Schedule 1) and narrows the register's coverage by excluding specified land and water rights and by creating exemptions where interests arise from enforcement of moneylending securities or meet foreign custodian conditions (see ss 5–10). It also makes those exemptions apply irrespective of when the interest was acquired (see ss 7(4), 8(2), 9(2)), thereby changing the practical scope of who must notify under the Act."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive cross‑references to other statutes and regulations (Register Act, Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015, Water Act 2007), requiring readers to consult multiple instruments.","Multiple narrow exclusions and exemptions (private rainwater capture, irrigation operator rights, enforcement-of-security situations, foreign custodian conditions) that must be interpreted against factual ownership arrangements.","Temporal application clauses stating exemptions and exclusions apply regardless of whether rights were acquired before, on or after commencement (ss 7(4), 8(2), 9(2)), which affects retrospective assessment.","Definitions-heavy drafting (eg. foreign person, holding entity, irrigation infrastructure operator, moneylending agreement, subsidiary) that import legal meanings from other instruments.","Interplay between conveyance water concept and remaining registrable entitlements (s 7 creates partial carve-outs and leaves residual rights potentially registrable).","Repeal of an earlier instrument (Schedule 1) altering the regulatory baseline and requiring comparison with prior rule for continuity."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument updates the register rules by specifying which land and water rights are not treated as agricultural land or registrable water entitlements, introducing targeted exemptions (notably where interests arise from enforcement of moneylending securities or involve foreign custodian arrangements), and repealing the 2015 Rule. It affects foreign persons, lenders, irrigation infrastructure operators, holding entities and subsidiaries by changing who must notify the register and what counts as reportable ownership, so it alters compliance obligations and potential liabilities."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/register-of-foreign-ownership-of-water-or-agricultural-land-rules-2017","history":"/api/acts/register-of-foreign-ownership-of-water-or-agricultural-land-rules-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/register-of-foreign-ownership-of-water-or-agricultural-land-rules-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/register-of-foreign-ownership-of-water-or-agricultural-land-rules-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/register-of-foreign-ownership-of-water-or-agricultural-land-rules-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/register-of-foreign-ownership-of-water-or-agricultural-land-rules-2017/documents"}}