Submission to the Review of Australia’s Bilateral Investment Treaties

Abstract

Our submission is focussed on how Australia’s BITs can be modernised to ensure that the promotion and protection of investments is balanced against the need to safeguard policy space for legitimate public-welfare measures or ‘regulatory autonomy’. This discussion responds primarily to Question 4 of the questions for consideration outlined in the DFAT Discussion Paper, by providing our views on clauses that should be included in any renegotiated BITs or other investment agreements negotiated by Australia in the future.