AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dennis Miralis, Jack Dennis and Phillip Salakas, Nyman Gibson Miralis
Legal Developments The Australian Government has introduced new sanc- tions frameworks, including the Afghanistan sanctions framework, allowing the Minister to impose sanctions under a new set of criteria, in conjunction with or inde- pendently of the UNSC sanctions. Another significant and recent legal development in relation to Australian sanctions laws is the new AML/ CTF regime’s requirement for reporting entities to develop, maintain and comply with policies to ensure they do not contravene targeted financial sanctions obligations. Under the new regime, reporting entities are required to reasonably establish that a customer, beneficial owner of a customer or person acting on behalf of a customer, is not designated for targeted financial sanctions prior to providing a designated service to that customer. Reporting entities will also be subject to an ongoing requirement to monitor existing cus- tomers to check whether they have become designat- ed for targeted financial sanctions or have breached Australian sanctions laws. 3.2 Future Developments The Australian Government is actively considering reforms to sanctions laws “to ensure they are fit for purpose and easier to understand”. According to DFAT’s website, the Australian Gov- ernment is currently considering proposed reforms and drafting legislative and regulatory amendments ahead of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 sunsetting on 1 October 2027. These reforms are likely based on the reports received from at least four reviews that addressed the Australian sanctions regimes: • DFAT’s review that commenced in January 2023 and concluded on 30 October 2024, titled ‘Review of Australia’s Autonomous Sanctions Framework’; • the Defence and Trade References Committee’s review that commenced in March 2024 and con - cluded in September 2024, titled “Australian Sup - port for Ukraine”, September 2024; • the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Reference Committee’s review that commenced in July 2024
Failing to comply with the requirement is a criminal offence, punishable by up to 12 months’ imprison - ment. 3. Recent and Future Legal Developments 3.1 Significant Court Decisions or Legal Developments Court Decisions The three most significant court decisions or legal developments in Australia are: • Alexander Abramov v Minister for Foreign Affairs (No 2) (2023), which challenged the designation of an individual and confirmed that sanctions could be imposed for past actions that have been dis- continued but also provided further insight into the administrative process of sanction-making – this decision, in turn, led to the Australian government passing legislation to reflect the outcome of this decision and retrospectively validate past sanction decisions; and • Alumina and Bauxite Company Ltd v Queensland Alumina Ltd (2024) FCA 43, which was Australia’s first case examining the sanctions regimes in the context of commercial contracts/force majeure and confirmed the broad scope of sanction provisions (see 6.1 Force Majeure for further details). Deri- paska v Minister for Foreign Affairs [2026] HCA 14, which confronted the question of whether a sanc- tions instrument could deny a designated person access to legal services to advise on the availability of (or lack thereof) judicial review under administra- tive law or the constitution. By unanimous decision, the High Court held that the sanctions legislative instruments could be read down to exclude their constitutionally invalid operations and allow des- ignated persons to obtain legal advice for judicial review proceedings in relation to their designation and that such services did not require a ministerial permit. Importantly, this therefore allows lawyers to provide these services without reliance on a permit that must be renewed every two years.
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