AUSTRALIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Dennis Miralis and Jack Dennis, Nyman Gibson Miralis
of the autonomous regimes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (“the Minister”) has had the power to make general permits to allow conduct that would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions. In July 2023, for the first time, the ASO published the existing general permits concerning certain IP, legal services, tax, and oil and petroleum price caps on their website. Some of these permits had been issued as early as 25 May 2022. Previously, each individual and entity would have to make an application for a permit, without knowing if a general permit existed. It remains the responsibility of each individual seeking to rely on the general permit to “read the terms of the permit carefully” and report to the ASO that they intend to rely on the permit. For any conduct falling outside these permits, entities must engage with the ASO and apply for an individual permit. The ASO estimates the standard waiting time as three months. Such a length of time can lead to significant consequences for the financial industry and other businesses – the impact of which is compounded, given the lack of notice before sanctions are imposed. There is still a distinct lack of general permits seen as key in other jurisdictions, such as for humanitarian reasons or for an orderly wind-down of existing busi - ness activities and contractual obligations. The impact of the latter is compounded by the lack of authoritative guidance on the sanctions regimes, as illustrated by arguments progressed in the Alumina and the Tigers Realm cases. Gap between law and banking policies A subsisting trend among certain banks operating in Australia is that their sanction policies and practices do not account for permits. Accordingly, although an entity may have obtained a permit or fall under a general permit to allow for dealings with designated persons, the bank continues to prevent transactions relating to the engagement. This gap undermines the effectiveness of permits and has serious ramifications that permits try to address. By way of example, failure to recognise the general permit allowing transactions that are required by Rus - sian tax law will result in serious consequences for any individual or entity who has tax obligations and may
even impact their position under Australian law should there be any correlative aspects, such as foreign tax credits. Another example is the failure to recognise the general permit allowing the provision of legal services. Prevention of payment may lead to: • the denial of legal services crucial to ensuring the sanctions regime is accurate and fair; and • the abrogation of certain individuals’ human rights. This issue was left unexamined by the Senate’s latest inquiry, remaining in the “too hard” basket. Designat - ed individuals are left at the whim of the financial insti - tutions, relying on banks to prepare and implement policies that properly accommodate permits. The practical difficulties of the banks in doing so are only exacerbated by the piecemeal and fractured nature of the domestic and global sanctions system and grow - ing obstacles in challenging listings. Areas of Focus Russia-Ukraine situation Australia has continued imposing sanctions in respect of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation. On 18 June 2025, for the first time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, sanctioned 60 vessels linked to “Rus - sia’s shadow fleet”. The Minister stated that these vessels “enable the illicit trade of Russian oil and other sanctioned goods”. Complementing this ongoing use of sanctions con - cerning the Russia-Ukraine situation, DFAT has released further Russian-related guidance, including general export goods and Russia-origin petroleum gases, oil, and refined petroleum products. Russia was a repeating theme in the recent reviews into the sanctions regimes, with calls for increased targeting of Russian assets and closing the loop - holes that allow Russia to circumvent the sanctions against goods to and from Russia. If anything, Russia and its intermediaries are shaping up to be the stone against which Australia may best sharpen its sanc - tions regimes so as to improve their efficacy. Israel-Palestinian conflict In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a non-binding advisory opinion on the legal
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