Australia has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 No. 44 establishes that Australia has an independent telecommunications authority, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Division 4 of the Act establishes that the Minister may give written directions to the ACMA in relation to the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers. However, it is reported that the ACMA is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

My Health Records Act 2012 requires information relating to health records to be stored and processed within Australia unless the records do not include "personal information in relation to a healthcare recipient or a participant in the My Health Record System" or "identifying information of an individual or entity" (Section 77).

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

In the Privacy Act 1988, the Australian Privacy Principle 8 creates a regime that allows cross-border disclosure of personal information in six different scenarios (Schedule 1). These conditions include but are not limited to situations where data protection frameworks are similar or equivalent to those in Australia, there is consent to the disclosure, or laws require the disclosure. The Australian Privacy Principles were inserted into the Privacy Act by the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, which came into force in March 2014.

The Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, last amended in January 2021, establishes a framework for screening foreign investments, granting the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) the authority to prohibit proposed investments on several grounds, including:
(i) significant investment activities are considered contrary to the national interest. The Foreign Investment Policy, revised in 2023, outlines the national interest criteria. These include national security, competition, government policies, economic and community impact and the investor's character;
(ii) preventing actions classified as notifiable for national security that pose a threat to national security. This includes investments in 'national security businesses' as defined in Article 9 of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act. Specifically, it encompasses critical telecommunications assets, critical broadcasting assets, critical domain name systems, and critical data storage or processing assets;
(iii) the Treasurer's authority to "call in" and review an investment that would not normally require notification if it poses national security concerns; and
(iv) the Treasurer's ability to re-evaluate previously approved investments if new national security risks arise post-approval.

Section 80 of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 requires foreign individuals to notify the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) 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. This includes the exercise of a 'revocation' power to prohibit an investment on national security grounds and reassessing previously approved investments if national security risks arise post-approval. The latter pertains to participation in a 'business of national security' as specified in Art. 67 of the law. As Art. 9 of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act outlines, this encompasses FDI in critical telecommunications assets, critical broadcasting assets, critical domain name systems, and critical data storage or processing assets. 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.

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.

Australia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

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 anti-dumping duties imposed in 2014 on power transformers (HS 8504.22 and 8504.23) against Indonesia and Taiwan for five additional years. The duty rate 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 duty rate ranges from 2.8% to 18.9%, depending on the company.