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).

Section 80 of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 requires foreign individuals to notify the Treasurer before taking notifiable actions involving the acquisition of interests in Australian securities, assets, or land with a connection to Australia. To be considered significant under Sec. 82, an action must result in a change in control by a foreign person or be initiated by one, which is often dependent on meeting a specified threshold.
In addition, Art. 130 lists a number of conditions that can lead to excluding significant investments contrary to the national interest. These include exercising an "avocation" power to rule out an investment on national security grounds and reassessing previously approved investments if risks to national security arise after approval. The latter involves participation in a "business of national security" as set out in Art. 67, including critical infrastructure, telecommunications, and sensitive information. It has been reported that in 2012, under this regime, Australia cited cybersecurity concerns to prevent China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from bidding for contracts for the $38 billion National Broadband Network.

The Telstra Corporations Act 1991 provides under Section 8BG that aggregate foreign ownership of Telstra (the incumbent telecommunication company) is limited to 35% and individual foreign investors are only allowed to own up to 5%. This specific cap was imposed in 1999 as part of an amendment of the Act.
Additionally, the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 provides that the Commonwealth must retain full ownership of National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) (Part 3, Division 2, Subdivision A). This ownership structure could be terminated only in limited circumstances (Part 3, Division 2, Subdivision B). This rule has been in place since its enactment in 2011.

Under Section 201A of the Corporations Act 2001, a proprietary company must have at least one director who must also have resident status in Australia. A public company must have at least three directors, two of whom must be ordinarily residents in Australia. This requirement has been in place since its enactment in 2001.

The Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, which was last amended in January 2021, creates a foreign investment screening framework where the Treasurer may, as authorized under the Act, prohibit a proposed investment action under following grounds.
- First, the Treasurer may screen out significant investment actions that would be contrary to national interest. For example, for online media services, an acquisition of 5% interest of an Australian media business by a foreign person constitutes a significant action. The Foreign Investment Policy, updated in 2020 pursuant to the Act, sets out different considerations for national interests, which include national security, competition, other Australian Government policies (including tax), impact on the economy and the community, and the character of the investor. The Policy notes that media, telecommunication, and other critical infrastructure are among sensitive businesses.
- Second, the Treasury may screen out investment actions that are notifiable national security actions if they would be contrary to national security. Notifiable national security actions include investment actions where "national security business" is involved. National security business includes critical infrastructure, telecommunications, and sensitive information businesses.
- Third, the Treasurer may exercise a "call-in" power to screen out an investment that would not otherwise require notification on national security grounds.
- Fourth, the Treasurer may re-assess previously approved investments where national security risks emerge after approval.

The Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) provide that "the Australian Government is committed to non-corporate Commonwealth entities sourcing at least 10 percent of procurement by value from SMEs" and "has a target of non-corporate Commonwealth entities procuring 35 percent of contracts by volume, with a value of up to AUD 20 million (approx. 17.8 million USD), from SMEs" (CPRs 5.6, 5.7).
The government response to the ICT Procurement Taskforce's (within the Digital Transformation Agency) final report released in 2013 states that "all agencies will be required to report on compliance with (certain) principles as part of their annual report performance statements," which include "a metric on the percentage of annual ICT spending on significant projects going to Australian businesses, including a breakdown of the amount going to Australian SMEs."
It is reported that, with regards to major procurement of information and communication technology (ICT) products and services, government agencies must ensure that tenders meet the minimum SME participation levels set at 10% of contract value for hardware and 20% of contract value for software/services. It is not clear whether the Commonwealth still retains this requirement with those exact caps.

The Commonwealth Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP), issued in 2015, requires setting aside certain portions of domestic contracts for indigenous enterprises (IPP 1.2). The IPP, which was updated in 2020, sets out a target for purchasing from indigenous enterprises for public procurements and a mandatory set-aside to direct Commonwealth contracts to indigenous enterprises (IPP 1.3). The target during the 2021-22 term is set for 1.5%. The IPP applies to non-corporate Commonwealth entities; it is not mandatory to corporate Commonwealth entities (IPP 1.6).

Australia is a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and its commitments also cover the services sectors considered most important for digital trade, namely telecommunication services (CPC 752), telecommunication-related services (CPC 754), and computer and related services (CPC 84).

Starting with the Australian Government Procurement Statement in July 2009, the Federal Labor Government enacted a series of measures designed to enhance Australian industry participation in Australian Government procurement. The Statement strengthened the Australian Industry Participation framework by requiring participants in large Commonwealth tenders (generally AUD 20 million (approx. 17.8 million USD) or more) and infrastructure projects to prepare and implement Australian Industry Participation (AIP) Plans. Additional support was provided in the May 2011 Budget to fund greater advocacy for local suppliers under the Buy Australian at Home and Abroad package. The Labor Government's Plan for Australian Jobs, in force since December 2013, further extended the requirements for AIP Plans to all major projects with a capital expenditure of AUD 500 million (approx. 344 million USD) or more.
It was reported in 2014 that this scheme "[does not] require the use of Australian suppliers, yet their incremental application reveal[ed] a tendency towards the increased use of subtle restrictions on overseas firms participating in government procurement tenders.
More specifically:
- For Commonwealth Government Procurement of AUD 20 million or more, although bidders need to prepare and implement an AIP plan, AIP plans do not "mandate the use of Australian industry, but rather aim to provide Australian industry with the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities so they can be considered in purchasing decisions."
- For participation in major projects, the Australian Jobs Act 2013 obligates procurement entities "not [to] request bids to supply key goods or services for the project unless the procurement entity has a broad understanding of the capability and capacity of Australian entities generally to supply those goods or services" (Section 35). This does not constitute a requirement to incorporate local suppliers, but it creates preference for local suppliers for key goods or services for a project.

Australia is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996 and its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Under the powers granted by the Customs Act 1901, a Commissioner leads the Anti-Dumping Commission which manages antidumping and countervailing duties. In November 2019, the Commission extended the antidumping duties imposed in 2014 on power transformers (HS 8504.22 and 8504.23) against Indonesia and Taiwan for five additional years. The rate of the duty imposed on imports originating in Indonesia is 28.3%, while for imports originating in Taiwan it ranges from 2.9% to 8.6%, depending on the company.

Under the powers granted by the Customs Act 1901, a Commissioner leads the Anti-Dumping Commission which manages antidumping and countervailing duties. In May 2019, the Commission imposed antidumping duties on PCV flat electric cables (HS 8544.49.20) imported from China. The rate of the duty ranges from 2.8% to 18.9%, depending on the company.

Vietnam has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.