Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Afghanistan) Regulations 2025

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Foreign Affairs

Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011

Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Afghanistan) Regulations 2025

The Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 (the Act) provides a framework for the implementation for autonomous sanctions.

Autonomous sanctions are measures not involving the use of armed force which a government imposes as a matter of foreign policy—as opposed to an international obligation under a United Nations Security Council decision—in response to situations of international concern. They are a discretionary tool which the Government can apply, alone or with like-minded countries where appropriate, to address egregious situations of international concern.

When considering whether to apply autonomous sanctions, the Government considers Australia’s national interest, including bilateral, regional and multilateral relationships, and the impact of sanctions on Australia’s economic, security or other interests.

In accordance with regulation 18 of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 (the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations), the Minister for Foreign Affairs (the Foreign Minister) may grant a permit authorising certain conduct that is otherwise prohibited by the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations. The Foreign Minister must not grant a permit unless they are satisfied that it would be in the national interest to grant the permit.

Section 10 of the Act enables the Governor-General to make regulations applying sanctions. Paragraph 10(1)(a) of the Act provides that regulations may make provision relating to the proscription of persons or entities for specified purposes or more generally.

The purpose of the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Afghanistan) Regulations 2025 (the Amendment Regulations) is to introduce:

• prevention of the export of arms and related matériel to Afghanistan, along with related sanctioned services; and
• new sanctions listing criteria specific to Afghanistan, to allow the Foreign Minister to impose targeted financial sanctions on individuals and entities and declare an individual which would prevent the person from travelling to, entering or remaining in Australia (travel ban).  

Specifically, the Foreign Minister will be able to impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against persons or entities (as relevant) who are, or have been, engaging in, responsible for, or complicit in:

• the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan;
• the oppression of minority groups in Afghanistan;
• the general oppression of people in Afghanistan; or
• undermining good governance or the rule of law in Afghanistan.

The Autonomous Sanctions Regulations provide that the Foreign Minister must make listings by legislative instrument. Designations and declarations are hereafter collectively referred to as ‘listings’.

The purpose of a designation is to subject the designated person or entity to targeted financial sanctions. There are two components to targeted financial sanctions under the Regulations:

• a designated person or entity becomes the object of the prohibition in regulation 14 (which prohibits directly or indirectly making an asset available to, or for the benefit of, a designated person or entity, other than as authorised by a permit granted under regulation 18); and/or
• an asset owned or controlled by a designated person or entity is a ‘controlled asset’, subject to the prohibition in regulation 15 (which prohibits a person who holds a controlled asset from either using or dealing with that asset, or allowing it to be used or dealt with, or facilitating the use of or dealing with it, other than as authorised by a permit granted under regulation 18. i.e. the asset is effectively frozen).

The purpose of a declaration is to prevent a person from travelling to, entering, or remaining in Australia.

The addition of a new sanctions framework for Afghanistan was subject to consultation within Government. A two-week public consultation period was conducted via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website seeking submissions from interested parties. The public consultation process closed on 22 October 2025. Ten submissions were received, the majority of which were supportive of the framework.

Details of the sections of the Amendment Regulations are set out at Attachment A.

The Office of Impact Analysis (OIA) has advised that an Impact Analysis is not required (reference: OIA25-10350).

The instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. A statement of compatibility with human rights is at Attachment B.

Attachment A

Details of the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Afghanistan) Regulations 2025

Section 1 – Name

The title of the instrument is the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Afghanistan) Regulations 2025.

Section 2 – Commencement

Subsection 2(1) provides that the instrument commences the day after it is registered. 

Section 3 – Authority

The instrument is made under the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011. 

Section 4 – Schedules

Section 4 provides that each instrument specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms. 

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011

Item 1 – Subregulation 4(2) (before table item 1)

Regulation 4 of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 (the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations) concerns the sanctioned supply of goods.

Item 1 provides for a new item in the table in subregulation 4(2) of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations to introduce an arms embargo on Afghanistan.

As a result, a person makes a ‘sanctioned supply’ if the person supplies, sells or transfers arms and related matériel to a person, and as a direct (or indirect) result, the goods are transferred to Afghanistan (or part thereof). The arms embargo also applies to any export sanctioned goods used in, or for the benefit of, Afghanistan (or part thereof).

As a consequence of Item 1, subsection 5(1) of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations prohibits the provision of certain services to a person if those services assist with, or are provided in relation to, supplying Afghanistan with arms and related matériel. The prohibited services are the following services when those services are provided in relation to a sanctioned supply:

• technical advice, assistance or training; 

• financial assistance;  

• a financial service; or

• another service. 

Item 2 – Subregulation 5(4) (before table item 1)

Regulation 5 of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations concerns sanctioned services.

Item 2 provides for a new item in the table in subregulation 5(4) of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations to prohibit the provision of certain services to Afghanistan that relate to an activity listed in the table.  

The prohibition on providing certain services affects the provision of:

• technical advice, assistance or training; 

• financial assistance;

• a financial service; or

• another service 

where the provision of one or more of those services assists with, or are provided in relation to, a military activity in Afghanistan, or the manufacture, maintenance or use of arms or related matériel for Afghanistan. 

Item 3 – Regulation 6 (before table item 1)

Regulation 6 of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations provides for the country-specific designation of persons or entities for targeted financial sanctions, or for a person to be declared for a travel ban.   

Item 3 introduces a new Afghanistan-specific listing criteria into table item 1A of regulation 6 of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations to enable the Foreign Minister to impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans based on the Afghanistan criteria (below).

Item 3 amends the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations to add new listing criteria for Afghanistan to enable the Foreign Minister to list, by legislative instrument, persons and entities for targeted financial sanctions and/or travel bans if satisfied that a person or entity is engaging in, is responsible for or is complicit in, or has engaged in, been responsible for or been complicit in, any of the following: 

(a) the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan; 

(b) the oppression of minority groups in Afghanistan; 

(c) the general oppression of people in Afghanistan;

(d) undermining good governance or the rule of law in Afghanistan. 

Paragraph (a) of Item 3 concerns the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan and is intended to capture situations where a person or entity has been involved in the oppression of women and girls. Examples of the oppression of women and girls may include where women and girls are restricted from accessing education, engaging in employment, participating in elections, entering Afghanistan for the purpose of carrying out matters of the United Nations such as providing humanitarian and development aid, arbitrary detention and arrests of women and girls, harassment and intimidation of women and girls, as well as laws and policies either designed to oppress women and girls or operating with such effect.

Some of the rights that may be impacted by the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan may include the violation or abuse of human rights such as the right to equality and non-discrimination, right to liberty and security of person, right to education, right to work and to gain a living by freely chosen or accepted work, right to just and favourable conditions of work, including remuneration and fair wages, the right to vote and participate in public life, the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the right to take part in cultural life, the right to marry with the free and full consent of the intending spouses and the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly (protest), the right to freedom of movement, freedoms of opinion and expression, freedom of association, and freedom of religion.

Paragraph (b) of Item 3 concerns the oppression of minority groups in Afghanistan and is intended to capture situations where a person or entity has been involved in the oppression of members of vulnerable minority groups in Afghanistan. Examples of vulnerable groups in Afghanistan may include religious groups in Afghanistan who do not identify or follow the Sunni interpretation of Islam, members of ethnic groups such as the Hazara, and persons who belong the LGBTQIA+ community in Afghanistan.

Examples of the oppression of minority groups in Afghanistan may include physical injury or mental harm to members of minority groups, instances of corporal punishment, persecution, violence, threats, harassment, discrimination and intimidation, arbitrary arrests or arbitrary detention of members of minority groups. Other examples are where a person or entity has been involved in the violation or abuse of human rights of members of minority groups in Afghanistan. Examples of the human rights covered by this criteria are the right to liberty and security of person, the right to freedom of religion or belief, the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association, and freedoms of opinion and expression, of members of minority groups in Afghanistan.

Paragraph (c) of Item 3 concerns the general oppression of people in Afghanistan and is intended to capture situations where a person or entity has been involved in causing physical or mental harm to the people of Afghanistan, or specific groups of people in Afghanistan, including those who may not identify as a member of a vulnerable group in Afghan society. This limb of the criteria is broadly defined and is intended to apply to a range of persons, or specific groups, including journalists, human rights defenders, civil society, former government officials. Examples of the type of conduct targeted by this criteria could include the violation or abuse of the human rights of the people of Afghanistan. Examples of the rights that may be covered by this criteria are the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of movement. For example, public floggings, targeting of activists, forced conversions and blasphemy convictions, arbitrary arrests and arbitrary detention, as well as instances of threats, harassment, and intimidation against the people of Afghanistan.  

Paragraph (d) of Item 3 concerns undermining good governance or the rule of law in Afghanistan.  It is intended to capture situations including where a person or entity has been involved in undermining the principles of good governance and the rule of law, including equality before the law, the presumption of innocence, principles of natural justice including procedural fairness, the right to legal representation of one’s own choosing, the right to appeal and have decisions reviewed, the right to be tried without undue delay, right to a fair trial and the right not to be detained arbitrarily, and other similar civil and political rights. Extrajudicial killings are also intended to be captured by this criteria. It also extends to other conduct that undermines good governance, such as corruption.

Paragraphs (a) to (d) provide that sanctions may be imposed as a result of conduct that has occurred, including situations where the conduct is ongoing.

Attachment B

STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Afghanistan) Regulations 2025

The Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Afghanistan) Regulations 2025 (the Amendment Regulations) are compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Amendment Regulations

The purpose of the Amendment Regulations is to introduce new trade measures on Afghanistan, as well as a new criteria to enable the Foreign Minister to impose targeted financial sanctions and to declare a person which would prevent the person from travelling to, entering or remaining in Australia (travel ban) in response to the situation in Afghanistan. The reforms expand the application of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 (Autonomous Sanctions Regulations), and do not change their overarching operation.

The Amendment Regulations introduce sanctions on supplying arms or related matériel to Afghanistan, as well as services related to a military activity, and the manufacture, maintenance or use of an export sanctioned good for Afghanistan. The embargo aims to prevent sanctioned goods and services being supplied or provided to Afghanistan, which may exacerbate the grave situation of international concern in Afghanistan.

Schedule 1 of the Amendment Regulation  amends the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations to introduce into regulation 6 of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations new Afghanistan-specific listing criteria to enable the Foreign Minister to list persons and entities for targeted financial sanctions and/or impose travel bans on individuals, if the Foreign Minister is satisfied that a person or entity is engaging in, is responsible for or is complicit in, or has engaged in, been responsible for or been complicit in, any of the following:

1.    the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan;
2.    the oppression of minority groups in Afghanistan;
3.    the general oppression of people in Afghanistan;
4.    undermining good governance or the rule of law in Afghanistan.

The purpose of a designation is to subject the designated person or entity to targeted financial sanctions. There are two components to targeted financial sanctions under the Regulations:

• a designated person or entity becomes the object of the prohibition in regulation 14 (which prohibits directly or indirectly making an asset available to, or for the benefit of, a designated person or entity, other than as authorised by a permit granted under regulation 18); and/or
• an asset owned or controlled by a designated person or entity is a ‘controlled asset’, subject to the prohibition in regulation 15 (which prohibits a person who holds a controlled asset from either using or dealing with that asset, or allowing it to be used or dealt with, or facilitating the use of or dealing with it, other than as authorised by a permit granted under regulation 18, i.e. the asset is effectively frozen).

The purpose of a declaration is to prevent a person travelling to, entering or remaining in Australia.

Human rights implications

The Amendment Regulation promotes human rights by strengthening sanctions imposed upon persons or entities that are engaging in, are responsible for, or are complicit in, or have engaged in, have been responsible for have been complicit in activities that violate or undermine respect for the human rights of people in Afghanistan. The human rights that are promoted include, but are not limited to:

• the right to non-discrimination in article 2 of CEDAW, article 26 of the ICCPR, article 2(2) of ICESCR, and article 2 of the CRC;
• the right to an effective remedy in article 2(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);
• the right to life in article 6 of the ICCPR; 
• the protection against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in articles 2 and 16 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT);
• the right to liberty and security of person in article 9 of the ICCPR and article 14 of the CRPD;
• the right to freedom of movement in article 12 of the ICCPR;
• the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in article 19 of the ICCPR; and
• the right to education in article 13 of the ICESCR, articles 28 and 29 of the CRC, article 24 of the CPRD, and article 10 of CEDAW.

The introduction of the new trade measures and the new listing criteria for Afghanistan will enable the Foreign Minister to impose sanctions (in coordination with international partners where appropriate) in a way that promotes the human rights of people in Afghanistan. The Amendment Regulations assist to prevent and suppress violations and abuses of the above rights. Targeted financial sanctions imposed under the Amendment Regulations will ensure that persons and entities listed are denied access to assets that could be used to carry out or facilitate the proscribed serious human rights violations and abuses.

Australia already imposes targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on a number of persons and entities in response to situations of international concern in Afghanistan, pursuant to the sanctions made by the United Nations Security Council. The Amendment Regulations introduce new listing criteria for the Foreign Minister to impose autonomous sanctions on persons and entities, and provide an additional tool to influence change in support of the people in Afghanistan.

The reforms do not change the overarching operation of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations. The Foreign Minister may impose targeted financial sanctions on persons and entities, and travel bans on persons who meet the new listing criteria for Afghanistan. Each legislative instrument making listings against persons or entities in these additional categories will be accompanied by a separate Statement of Compatibility, addressing human rights that are relevant to those particular listings.

These legislative instruments have the potential to limit the following:

• the right to privacy (Article 17 of the ICCPR);
• the right to non-interference with, and the protection of, the family (Articles 17 and 23 of the ICCPR);
• the right to an adequate standard of living (Article 11(1) of the ICESCR);
• the right to freedom of movement (Article 12 of the ICCPR); and
• the right to non-refoulement (which arise from Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in relation to refugees and obligations relating to the prohibition on torture under Article 3 of the CAT, and the prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under Article 7 of the ICCPR, as well as Article 6 of the ICCPR on the right to life and prohibition on arbitrary deprivation of life).

The following aspects of the Amendment Regulations prevent legislative instruments made pursuant to the new Afghanistan criteria from impermissibly limiting the rights above.

The Amendment Regulations are transparent and targeted. When listing a person or entity under the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations for targeted financial sanctions or a person for a travel ban, the Foreign Minister uses predictable, publicly available criteria. These criteria are designed to capture only those persons the Foreign Minister is satisfied are in the categories of persons or entities, as set out in Item 3 of Schedule 1 of the Amendment Regulations.

Once a listing has been made, the Foreign Minister may revoke the listing at any time, upon application or on his or her own initiative. Listed persons and entities have a right to apply to have their listing revoked. When considering whether to revoke a listing, the Foreign Minister may have regard to submissions from the listed person or entity, or their authorised representatives.

The Foreign Minister does not consult a person or entity in advance of listing them for the first time, which would put the person or entity on notice that they may be listed, providing an opportunity for them to remove assets from Australian jurisdiction and rendering any listing less effective.

Listing decisions are subject to judicial review but not merits review. In line with the principles developed by the Administrative Review Council, the exclusion of merits review is justified as sanctions listings decisions can affect Australia’s relations with other countries and, as such, are decisions of high political content with the decision-making power personally vested in the Foreign Minister.

The Autonomous Sanctions Regulations allow the Foreign Minister to waive the operation of a travel ban on the grounds that it would be either: (a) in the national interest; or (b) on humanitarian grounds.

The Autonomous Sanctions Regulations also allow the Foreign Minister, upon application, to provide for certain payments to be made to a designated person and for a designated person’s assets to be dealt with in certain circumstances, including in relation to food, housing, medicine and medical treatment. The Foreign Minister may, upon his or her own initiative, provide for payments to be made to a designated person, or for a designated person’s assets to be dealt with, if the Foreign Minister is satisfied that to do so is in the national interest.

Conclusion

This instrument is compatible with human rights because the limitations that arise are reasonable, necessary and proportionate measures which enable Australia to maintain its foreign policy and national security interests.