Pursuant to Section 201A of the Corporations Act 2001, a proprietary company is required to have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Australia. For a public company, a minimum of three directors is required, at least two of whom must be ordinarily resident in Australia. This requirement has been in force since the enactment of the Act in 20

Australia operates a general ex ante foreign investment screening regime under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (FATA), under which covered transactions are assessed against the national interest. Under Art. 47 of FATA, a “notifiable action” includes the acquisition by a foreign person of a substantial interest in an Australian entity where the relevant monetary threshold test is met. As established under Division 2 of FATA, a “substantial interest” is generally an interest of at least 20%. The monetary threshold criterion is met when either the total value of the target entity’s assets or the total value of the securities issued exceeds the applicable indexed threshold. For 2025, the relevant thresholds range from AUD 1,464 million (approx. USD 1,035 million) for certain private investors from specified free trade agreement partner jurisdictions acquiring a substantial interest in a non-sensitive entity, to AUD 339 million (approx. USD 240 million) for private investors not from those partner jurisdictions and for acquisitions involving sensitive businesses.
It is reported that “sensitive businesses” include, inter alia, media, telecommunications, transport, defence and military-related activities, encryption and security technologies, communications systems, and nuclear-related activities. FATA does not exhaustively define “national interest”; however, the government guidance note No. 8 indicates that the assessment typically considers national security, competition, economic and community impacts, the character of the investor, and tax and other government policy considerations.

Under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (FATA), Australia subjects certain foreign investments to national security screening, combining mandatory ex ante notification with call-in and last-resort ex post powers. Under Section 55B, a notifiable national security action arises where a foreign person proposes to start a national security business, acquire a direct interest in a national security business (or in an entity carrying on such a business), or acquire an interest in national security land. The term national security business is defined in Section 8AA of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015, including businesses connected to critical infrastructure, telecommunications carriers or nominated carriage service providers, businesses supplying critical military or intelligence goods, technologies, or services, and certain businesses handling classified information or sensitive data relating to defence and intelligence personnel. Government guidance further indicates that, where this national security screening applies, notification is generally required regardless of transaction value.
Australia’s national security screening framework also includes ex post review mechanisms. Under Section 66A of FATA, the Treasurer may review a reviewable national security action (and certain significant actions) on national security grounds. Investments not subject to mandatory notification may be voluntarily notified to reduce the risk of later review, while non-notified investments may be called in for a national security assessment. In addition, Division 3 of Part 3 of FATA establishes last-resort powers, including powers to vary or revoke conditions, impose new conditions, or require divestment where national security risks arise after an initial assessment or approval.
In practice, these powers have been invoked to restrict foreign participation on grounds of national security and national interest. For example, in 2012, the Australian Government blocked Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from tendering for contracts associated with the National Broadband Network (NBN), citing cybersecurity concerns. More recently, in June 2024, the Treasurer ordered several China-linked investors to dispose of their shares in the rare earths miner Northern Minerals, including Yuxiao Fund, Ximei Liu, Xi Wang, and Black Stone Resources.

Australia is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Australia has a clear regime of copyright exceptions under the Copyright Act that follows the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. The list of exceptions includes research or study, criticism or review, parody or satire, reporting news, enabling a person with a disability to access the material, and professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney or trademark attorney (Division 3).

Australia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Azerbaijan has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

The List of Executive Authorities Responsible for Implementing Export Controls, approved by Decision No. 230, stipulates that telecom and information security systems are subject to export and re‑export licensing requirements. With regard to telecom security systems, the issuance of special permits is entrusted to the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan. With regard to information security, special permits are issued based on conclusions provided by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, the State Security Service and the Special State Protection Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Section 4.14 of the "Rules for the Certification of Telecommunications Equipment and Devices in Azerbaijan" stipulates that telecommunications equipment and devices (TE) lacking a certificate of conformity and imported without recognition under the national certification system shall not be permitted for release into the customs territory of Azerbaijan, and their sale and operation are prohibited. Section 6.1 further provides that the second and third phases of the TE certification process include the selection of a sample and its submission for testing to the Telecommunications Equipment Certification Centre (TECC) of the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport and, where necessary, to accredited testing laboratories of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Emergency Situations or other relevant authorities.

Art. 12 of the Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems stipulates that the issuance of electronic money within the territory of Azerbaijan may be undertaken solely by banks and local branches of foreign banks, the national postal operator, and electronic money institutions, meaning that only electronic money issued and authorised domestically is legally recognised. The issuer must immediately generate electronic money equivalent to the funds received for that purpose and ensure that the electronic money holder can use it. The currency, maximum permissible amount of electronic money, and the upper limit of obligations arising from electronic money issued by a single issuer are to be determined by normative acts of the Central Bank. Pursuant to Art. 13.2, legal entities, local branches of foreign legal entities, and individual entrepreneurs may acquire electronic money only by transferring funds from their respective payment accounts to the issuer. Art. 14 further requires electronic money institutions to submit information concerning payment accounts opened for such persons to the designated body of the relevant executive authority, in the manner and within the timeframe prescribed by that body. Arts. 52 and 57 govern the licensing of local branches of foreign payment institutions, foreign electronic money institutions, and foreign operators, thereby requiring any foreign payment service providers, electronic money issuers, or payment system operators seeking to operate in Azerbaijan to do so through licensed branch offices.

Section 2.1.4 of "The Preferential and Simplified Rules of Movement by Physical Persons through Customs Border of the Goods which Are Not Provided for Production or for Dealing Purposes" provides that certain goods may be brought across the customs border without payment of customs duties. This applies to goods delivered into the customs territory once per calendar month in the name of the same individual via international postal consignments or a courier service, provided that their total customs value does not exceed USD 300.

The Law on Electronic Commerce provides a comprehensive framework for consumer protection that also applies to online transactions.

Azerbaijan has acceded to the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in Azerbaijan. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

Art. 31 of the Law on Media stipulates that an on‑demand media service provider must operate under a licence. Such a provider makes its programme catalogues available either through the transmission mechanisms of a platform operator or directly via the Internet, including through mobile applications. The on‑demand media service provider is required to furnish the Council with information concerning all programmes included in its programme catalogue, as well as the agreements establishing the broadcasting rights acquired for the dissemination of these programmes.
Art. 32.1 of the Law on Media stipulates that a platform operator must hold a licence in order to conduct its activities. Art. 1.1.21 defines a platform operator as any natural or legal person that retransmits programmes, including on‑demand media services, via cable, IPTV, Over-the-Top (OTT), mobile television, or satellite by means of encoded broadcast signals. Pursuant to Art. 12.4, a platform operator is required to submit to the Council a copy of the agreement concluded between itself and a foreign audiovisual broadcaster, or a person authorised to contract on the broadcaster’s behalf, for the purpose of retransmitting the programmes of foreign audiovisual broadcasters.