The Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 (the Act) allows the Minister to assess whether arrangements between State/Territory entities and foreign entities are consistent with Australia’s foreign policy and do not adversely affect Australia’s foreign relations. It creates a scheme to ensure that arrangements between State or Territory governments and foreign government entities do not adversely affect Australia’s foreign relations and are not inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy.
The Foreign Arrangements Scheme deals with foreign arrangements. Foreign Arrangements include written arrangements, agreements, contracts, understandings or undertakings between State and Territory entities and foreign entities. They may be legally-binding or not legally-binding.
The University is not a ‘core’ State/Territory entity and therefore falls outside the scope of any potential ‘core foreign arrangements.’ However, the University could potentially enter into a ‘non-core foreign arrangement’ where the other party is:
From 10 March 2021, the University must notify the Minister of any proposal to enter a ‘non-core foreign arrangement’ and, if the arrangement is entered into, the Minister must also be notified about that within 14 days.
More information about the Foreign Arrangement Scheme is available from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
University Compliance
All ECU staff entering into Foreign Arrangements must complete the International Compliance Review – Foreign Engagements (ICR-FE) form and send the ICR-FE form to Legal and Integrity at integrity@ecu.edu.au for advice on any further action that may be required.