EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Foreign Affairs
International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963
International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities - Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Amendment Regulations 2025
The International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 (the Act) provides a framework for the privileges and immunities of certain international organisations, and of persons connected to those organisations, in Australia.
Section 13 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Paragraph 5(1)(a) of the Act relevantly provides that regulations may declare an organisation of which Australia and countries other than Australia are members to be an international organisation to which the Act applies.
The International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Regulations 2020 (the Principal Regulations) declared the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) as an international organisation to which the Act applies and conferred privileges and immunities on the SKAO and SKAO officials, representatives and experts (as defined in section 4 of the Principal Regulations).
Section 11C of the Act implements an indirect tax concession scheme whereby the Commissioner of Taxation, on behalf of the Commonwealth, must refund an amount equal to the amount of indirect tax payable in respect of an acquisition covered by regulations made for the purposes of section 11C of the Act.
The International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Amendment Regulations 2025 (the Amendment Regulations) amend the Principal Regulations to provide for an indirect tax concession to SKAO officials, for the purposes of paragraph 11C(1)(a) of the Act, for the acquisition of a motor vehicle for their personal use (or for the personal use of a member of the family of the SKAO official). Australian citizens or permanent residents who are SKAO officials are not eligible for this concession.
The purpose of conferring this privilege is to facilitate the official activities of the SKAO and delivery of its objectives in Australia, and improve consistency with Australia’s international obligations under the Convention Establishing the Square Kilometre Array Observatory [2021] ATS 4 (the Convention).
The Amendment Regulations apply this concession to one motor vehicle only, acquired by an SKAO official within the first 6 months of the official’s installation in Australia, unless there are exceptional circumstances (including where the original vehicle for which the person has received a concession under section 11C of the Act or an exemption under section 11B of the Act has been stolen or damaged beyond repair, in which case the official is entitled to a concession on a replacement motor vehicle).
The Amendment Regulations also contain a transitional measure to ensure that all SKAO officials already in Australia have the benefit of the indirect tax concession. For these officials, the transitional measure applies the concession to a motor vehicle acquired after the official’s installation in Australia and between the period of 1 December 2021 and 6 months after the day that the Amendment Regulations commence.
The indirect tax concession introduced in these Amendment Regulations will be subject to existing conditions set out in section 12 of the Principal Regulations. This means that any tax concession would need to be repaid to the Commonwealth if an SKAO official disposes of a motor vehicle within 3 years after it was acquired (except where the SKAO official disposes of the motor vehicle to another person entitled to an indirect tax concession).
In accordance with section 17 of the Legislation Act 2003, all relevant Commonwealth Government departments were consulted in the preparation of the Amendment Regulations. The department did not undertake public consultation as the Amendment Regulations apply to a limited class of persons and improve consistency with Australia’s obligations under the Convention (which was subject to scrutiny by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, which invited public submissions and held a public hearing on the Convention).
The Office of Impact Analysis advised (reference number OIA23-05292) that an Impact Analysis is not required as the Amendment Regulations are unlikely to have more than a minor regulatory impact.
The Amendment Regulations commence on the day after registration and are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
The Amendment Regulations amend the Principal Regulations. The Principal Regulations are exempt from sunsetting under the Legislation (Exemptions and Other Measures) Regulation 2015, section 11, item 1 as the primary purpose of the Principal Regulations is to give effect to Australia’s international obligations under the Convention.
Details of the Amendment Regulations are set out in the Attachment A.
The Amendment Regulations have been assessed to be compatible with human rights for the purposes of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. A Statement of Compatibility is set out below at Attachment B.
ATTACHMENT A
Details of the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Amendment Regulations 2025
Section 1 – Name
This section provides that the title of the instrument is the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Amendment Regulations 2025 (the Amendment Regulations).
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides that the Amendment Regulations commence on the day after they are registered.
Section 3 – Authority
This section provides that the Amendment Regulations are made under the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963.
Section 4 – Schedules
This section provides that each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to the Amendment Regulations is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and that any other item in a Schedule to the Amendment Regulations has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1 – Amendments
International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Regulations 2020
Item [1] – Section 4
This item inserts the definition of ‘permanent resident’ in section 4 of the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Regulations 2020 (the Principal Regulations), namely that ‘permanent resident’ has the same meaning as in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
This definition of ‘permanent resident’ was previously contained in paragraph 9(2)(a) of the Principal Regulations and has been relocated to section 4 as the term ‘permanent resident’ has broader usage beyond section 9 as a result of changes in the Amendment Regulations.
Item [2] – Paragraph 9(2)(a)
This item omits the definition of ‘permanent resident’ in paragraph 9(2)(a) of the Principal Regulations, as this definition has been relocated to section 4 of the Principal Regulations by virtue of the amendments in item 1 of the Amendment Regulations.
Item [3] – At the end of section 11
This item inserts three new subsections to section 11 of the Principal Regulations.
New subsection 11(3) provides for an indirect tax concession, for the purposes of paragraph 11C(1)(a) of the Act, for the acquisition of a motor vehicle by an SKAO official, for the personal use of the official or a member of the family of the official. This indirect tax concession applies in two circumstances, as outlined in new subsection 11(3):
- New paragraph 11(3)(a) – if the vehicle is acquired within the first 6 months of the official’s installation in Australia and the official has not previously received a concession under section 11C of the Act for the acquisition of another motor vehicle or an exemption from indirect tax under section 11B of the Act on the importation of another motor vehicle.
- New paragraph 11(3)(b) – if the vehicle is acquired in exceptional circumstances (as defined in new subsection 11(4)) to replace a motor vehicle for which the person has received a concession under section 11C of the Act or an exemption from indirect tax under section 11B of the Act.
New subsection 11(3) therefore makes clear that the indirect tax concession in new subsection 11(3) only applies to the acquisition of one motor vehicle (unless there are exceptional circumstances).
New subsection 11(4) provides a non-exhaustive definition of the meaning of ‘exceptional circumstances’ for the purposes of new paragraph 11(3)(b). Namely, exceptional circumstances, in relation to the replacement of a motor vehicle, includes the original vehicle being stolen or damaged beyond repair.
New subsection 11(5) provides that acquisition of a motor vehicle by an SKAO official is covered by this instrument only if the official is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Item [4] – Paragraph 12(1)(a)
Item 4 is a technical amendment to omit “SKAO has entered into a written agreement with the Commonwealth” from paragraph 12(1)(a) of the Principal Regulations and substitute it with “person who made the acquisition is subject to an agreement in writing between the SKAO and the Commonwealth”.
Subsection 12(1) of the Principal Regulations sets out conditions on which indirect tax concessions are payable in respect of acquisitions for the purposes of paragraph 11C(3)(a) of the Act. Paragraph 11C(3)(a) of the Act, read together with subsection 11C(1) of the Act, provides that an indirect tax concession on an acquisition covered by regulations is payable in accordance with the conditions and limitations set out in regulations made for the purposes of paragraph 11C(3)(a).
The amendment in this Item 4 is required as the Amendment Regulations introduce an indirect tax concession on an acquisition of a motor vehicle made by an SKAO official for their personal use, whereas the current Principal Regulations only apply indirect tax concessions to acquisitions made by or on behalf of the SKAO itself. The effect of this amendment is therefore to apply the conditions set out in existing paragraph 12(1)(a) of the Principal Regulations to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by an SKAO official as introduced in the new subsection 11(3).
Item [5] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(i)
Item 5 is a technical amendment to omit “SKAO” and substitute it with “person”. Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(i) of the Principal Regulations sets out conditions on which indirect tax concessions are payable in relation to an acquisition of a motor vehicle.
This amendment in item 5 is required as the Amendment Regulations introduce an indirect tax concession on an acquisition of a motor vehicle made by an SKAO official for their personal use, whereas the current Principal Regulations only apply indirect tax concessions to acquisitions made by or on behalf of the SKAO itself. This effect of this amendment is therefore to apply the condition set out in subparagraph 12(1)(a)(i) of the Principal Regulations to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by an SKAO official. The condition in subparagraph 12(1)(a)(i) of the Principal Regulations means that any indirect tax concession would need to be repaid to the Commonwealth if an SKAO official disposes of a motor vehicle within 3 years after it was acquired (except where the SKAO official disposes of the motor vehicle to another person entitled to an indirect tax concession, whether under the Principal Regulations or another Commonwealth law in relation to similar acquisitions).
Item [6] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(i)
Item 6 is a technical amendment to omit “a person” and substitute it with “another person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 5 of the Amendment Regulations and clarifies the operation of subparagraph 12(1)(a)(i) by avoiding replication of the term “a person”.
Item [7] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(ii)
Item 7 is a technical amendment to omit “SKAO” and substitute it with “person”. This amendment is a consequential amendment to ensure that the terminology in section 12 of the Principal Regulations is consistent, given the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use.
Item [8] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(ii)
Item 8 is a technical amendment to omit “a person” and substitute it with “another person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 7 of the Amendment Regulations and clarifies the operation of subparagraph 12(1)(a)(ii) by avoiding replication of the term “a person”.
Item [9] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(iii)
Item 9 is a technical amendment to omit “SKAO” and substitute it with “person”. This amendment is a consequential amendment to ensure that the terminology in section 12 of the Principal Regulations is consistent, given the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use.
Item [10] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(iii)
Item 10 is a technical amendment to omit “a person” and substitute it with “another person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 9 of the Amendment Regulations and clarifies the operation of subparagraph 12(1)(a)(iii) by avoiding replication of the term “a person”.
Item [11] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(iv)
Item 11 is a technical amendment to omit “SKAO” and substitute it with “person”. This amendment is a consequential amendment to ensure that the terminology in section 12 of the Principal Regulations is consistent, given the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use.
Item [12] – Subparagraph 12(1)(a)(iv)
Item 12 is a technical amendment to omit “a person” and substitute it with “another person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 11 of the Amendment Regulations and clarifies the operation of subparagraph 12(1)(a)(iv) by avoiding replication of the term “a person”.
Item [13] – Paragraph 12(1)(b)
Item 13 is a technical amendment to omit each occurrence of the term “SKAO” in paragraph 12(1)(b) of the Principal Regulations and substitute it with “person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and ensures that the terminology in section 12 of the Principal Regulations is consistent (given the broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use).
Item [14] – At the end of subsection 12(1)
Item 14 inserts a note at the end of subsection 12(1) of the Principal Regulations to clarify that the term “person” in the amended subsection 12(1) includes the SKAO.
Item [15] – Paragraph 12(2)(b)
Item 15 is a technical amendment to omit the first occurrence of the term “the SKAO” in paragraph 12(2)(b) of the Principal Regulations and substitute it with “a person (the first person)”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and ensures that the terminology in section 12 of the Principal Regulations is consistent (given the broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use).
Item [16] – Subparagraph 12(2)(b)(i)
Item 16 is a technical amendment to repeal subparagraph 12(2)(b)(i) of the Principal Regulations and substitute it with a new subparagraph 12(2)(b)(i): “(i) the first person disposes of the goods to a person (the second person) who is entitled to the concession”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and ensures that the terminology in section 12 of the Principal Regulations is consistent (given the broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use).
Item [17] – Subparagraph 12(2)(b)(ii)
Item 17 is a technical amendment to omit “the person” and substitute it with “the second person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 16 of the Amendment Regulations.
Item [18] – Paragraph 12(3)(a)
Item 18 is a technical amendment to omit “SKAO” and substitute it with “person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 4 the Amendment Regulations and ensures that the terminology in section 12 of the Principal Regulations is consistent (given the broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use).
Item [19] – Subsection 12(4)
Item 19 is a technical amendment to omit “SKAO” and substitute it with “person”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and ensures that the terminology in section 12 of the Regulations is consistent (given the broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use).
Item [20] – Paragraph 12(5)(b)
Item 20 is a technical amendment to repeal the existing paragraph 12(5)(b) of the Principal Regulations and substitute it with a new paragraph 12(5)(b): “(b) the Minister tells the person in writing that, in the Minister’s opinion, the person’s reasonable needs were met by that acquisition”. This is a consequential amendment as a result of the amendment in Item 4 of the Amendment Regulations and ensures that the terminology in section 12 of the Regulations is consistent (given the broader applicability of section 12 to acquisitions of a motor vehicle by SKAO officials for their personal use).
Item [21] – At the end of the instrument
Item 21 inserts a new Part (entitled ‘Part 5 – Application, saving and transitional provisions’) at the end of the Principal Regulations setting out application, saving and transitional provisions in relation to the amendments made by the Amendment Regulations. This new Part comprises one new section (section 18).
New subsection 18(1) provides that section 11 of the Principal Regulations, as amended by the Amendment Regulations, applies in relation to the acquisition of a motor vehicle by an SKAO official on or after the day (termed the ‘transition day’) that is 6 months after the day the Amendment Regulations commence.
New subsection 18(2) provides that section 11 of the Principal Regulations, as amended by the Amendment Regulations, also applies in relation to the acquisition of a motor vehicle by an SKAO official before the transition day that is 6 months after the day the Amendment Regulations commence, if the motor vehicle was acquired: (a) after the official’s installation in Australia, and (b) in the period that begins on 1 December 2021 and ends before the transition day. New subsection 18(2) is a transitional measure to ensure that all SKAO officials in Australia, including those who arrived in Australia before the commencement of the Amendment Regulations, have the benefit of the indirect tax concession provided for in the Amendment Regulations.
New subsection 18(3) clarifies that, for the purposes of new subsection 18(2), section 11 of the Principal Regulations applies to the circumstances outlined in new subsection 18(2) as if paragraph 11(3)(a) of the Amendment Regulations did not require the vehicle to be acquired within the first 6 months of the official’s installation in Australia. This ensures that all eligible SKAO officials who arrived in Australia before the commencement of the Amendment Regulations are eligible for the indirect tax concession provided in the Amendment Regulations even if they have been in Australia for more than 6 months.
New subsection 18(4) provides that section 12 of the Principal Regulations, as amended by the Amendment Regulations, applies in relation to the disposal of a motor vehicle by a person, on or after the commencement day of the Amendment Regulations, whether the motor vehicle was acquired before, on or after the commencement day of the Amendment Regulations. This ensures that the conditions set out in section 12 of the Principal Regulations apply to all acquisitions of a motor vehicle by an SKAO official, notwithstanding whether the motor vehicle was acquired before, on or after commencement on the Amendment Regulations.
ATTACHMENT B
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Amendment Regulations 2025
This Legislative 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.
Overview
The International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities - Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Amendment Regulations 2025 (the Amendment Regulations) is an instrument made under the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 (the Act). The Act provides a framework for the privileges and immunities of certain international organisations, and of persons connected to those organisations, in Australia.
Section 13 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
The International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities – Square Kilometre Array Observatory) Regulations 2020 (the Principal Regulations) declared the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) as an international organisation to which the Act applies and conferred privileges and immunities on the SKAO and SKAO officials, representatives and experts (as defined in section 4 of the Principal Regulations).
Section 11C of the Act implements an indirect tax concession scheme whereby the Commissioner of Taxation, on behalf of the Commonwealth, must refund an amount equal to the amount of indirect tax payable in respect of an acquisition covered by regulations made for the purposes of section 11C of the Act.
The Amendment Regulations amend the Principal Regulations to provide an indirect tax concession to SKAO officials, for the purposes of paragraph 11C(1)(a) of the Act, for the acquisition of a motor vehicle for their personal use (or for the personal use of a member of the family of the SKAO official). Australian citizens or permanent residents who are SKAO officials are not eligible for this concession.
The purpose of conferring this privilege is to facilitate the official activities of the SKAO and delivery of its objectives in Australia, and improve consistency with Australia’s international obligations under the Convention Establishing the Square Kilometre Array Observatory [2021] ATS 4 (the Convention).
The Amendment Regulations apply this concession to one motor vehicle only, acquired by an SKAO official within the first 6 months of the official’s installation in Australia, unless there are exceptional circumstances (including where the original vehicle for which the person has received a concession under section 11C of the Act or an exemption under section 11B of the Act has been stolen or damaged beyond repair, in which case the official is entitled to a concession on a replacement motor vehicle).
The Amendment Regulations also contain a transitional measure to ensure that all SKAO officials already in Australia have the benefit of the indirect tax concession. For these officials, the transitional measure applies the concession to a motor vehicle acquired after the official’s installation in Australia and between the period of 1 December 2021 and 6 months after the day that the Amendment Regulations commence.
The indirect tax concession introduced in these Amendment Regulations will be subject to existing conditions set out in section 12 of the Principal Regulations. This means that any tax concession would need to be repaid to the Commonwealth if an SKAO official disposes of a motor vehicle within 3 years after it was acquired (except where the SKAO official disposes of the motor vehicle to another person entitled to an indirect tax concession).
Human rights implications
The Amendment Regulations do not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms. The Amendment Regulations do not substantively change the Principal Regulations and introduce a new indirect tax concession for SKAO officials for the acquisition of a motor vehicle for their personal use (or for the personal use of a member of the family of the SKAO official). This amendment is for the purposes of facilitating the official activities of the SKAO and delivery of its objectives in Australia and improving consistency with Australia’s international obligations under the Convention. As the amendments solely relate to conferring of a new indirect tax concession, the Amendment Regulations do not have any human rights implications.
Conclusion
The Amendment Regulations are compatible with human rights as they do not raise any human rights issues.