本平台将致力于为您提供与您在澳洲的投资项目相关的法律信息与服务、同时也会将与中国企业及个人投资者热切关注的产业相关澳洲新闻、最新行业规定等讯息及时传递给您。

1. 简介

房地产是我们的事务所专长的法律领域，我们是拥有澳大利亚最大的房地产律师团队的事务所之一。很多澳大利亚最大的房地产所有人和开发商都是我们的客户。

2. 引言 - 购买房地产

澳大利亚房地产行业已经经过了多年的发展，对海外投资者，特别是对于中国投资者，具有很大的吸引力。

例如，在2012/2013年间，墨尔本大约一半左右的主要的公寓开发活动都是由中国出资或直接开发的。

在澳大利亚购买或出售土地时，需要理解和考虑一系列非常重要的因素。

外籍人士可以在澳大利亚购买土地，而且经常购买，但对于意欲购买土地的外籍人士存在一定的限制，本文中稍后将简要地进行讨论并进行总结。在随附的材料中有对于外商投资的限制和义务的更详细的分析。

希望在澳大利亚投资土地的中国居民需要知道：

a) 什么样的土地可以买？

b) 我如何购买土地？

c) 作为一个外国人，我将会面对哪些问题或限制？

d) 买什么，什么时候买？我想购买的土地所有权的性质是什么？

e) 我将需要支付哪些印花税、税款和其他费用？

f) 购买土地时，我应该用我的名字，或应该用哪些可以使用的实体或结构购买？

g) 我能将土地用于何种目的？

本文将对澳大利亚的产权和法律体系进行简短的说明和概括，因为这将涉及到房地产的购买和销售。也将为您解答上述疑问。

3. 背景

想要了解澳大利亚有关房地产和房地产所有权的法律，您首先需要了解我们的政府架构。

澳大利亚由六个州、两个主要的内陆领地和其他小型领地组成的联邦。六个州分别是新南威尔士（NSW）、维多利亚（VIC）、昆士兰（QLD），南澳大利亚（SA）、西澳大利亚（WA）和塔斯马尼亚（TAS）。两个主要的内陆领地分别是澳大利亚首都特区（ACT）和北领地（NT）。

澳大利亚宪法没有赋予联邦关于房地产法律的权利，因此，房地产由各个州或领地独立管辖。

因此，土地的所有权由各州控制，而不是联邦政府。在中国，如您所知，中央政府拥有所有土地。不过，在澳大利亚也有很大一部分地区的土地只能租赁，例如堪培拉、北领地、西澳大利亚和昆士兰，这与中国的制度非常类似。

虽然州政府控制土地的所有权，联邦政府仍然具有很重要的可以影响土地及其所有权的权利。其中，联邦政府所拥有的关于土地的最重要的权利即控制谁可以拥有土地的权利。这一点对于非澳大利亚公民或居民的人士而言尤其重要。联邦政府控制和决定外籍人士可以购买或禁止购买哪些土地或哪类土地。

联邦政府还对土地和土地交易征收税款、印花税和消费税。州政府以市政管理费、土地税和印花税的形式对土地征收其自己的税款。因此，您非常有必要清楚，当您在澳大利亚购买和拥有土地时，您将同时涉及到联邦政府和州政府两个层级的法律。 另外非常重要的一点是，当在澳大利亚购买土地时、或购买或从事任何商业时，您需要调查一下使用哪种组织或实体可以减轻当前或未来的税务负担。很多时候，在购买前没有寻求适当建议的外国投资者会发现自己所处的情况需要缴纳更多税金。

由于在实体间转让资产无法逃避高额印花税或税务负担，因此此类错误是不容易被纠正的。

另外还有第三级政府，即当地市政府，也能显著地影响土地及其用途。

4. 房地产权利

4.1 永久业权

在澳大利亚最常见和最重要的土地所有权形式是永久业权。拥有永久业权是指您作为所有者，是该土地的绝对拥有者。这是属于您的土地，不属于其他任何人。土地的任何部分都不属于任何政府，所有部分都是您自己的土地。

如上文所述，还有其他类型的土地所有权，例如公有土地及租赁权。租赁权是指授予某些人在一定时间内使用和占用该土地的权利，同时需要向土地所有人支付使用该土地的租金或费用。这种业权的概念在中国十分普遍。本文将不涉及租赁持有，但需要注意的是澳大利亚北部的很多大型农业和矿业地区是租赁业权，不是永久业权。

4.2 原住民土地权

澳大利亚最高院于1992年在一个名为“马博（Mabo）”的案件中做出了判决。由于马博案的判决，澳大利亚不得不引入了关于原住民土地权的概念的条款。

原住民土地权只能由澳大利亚的土著居民，即原住民“拥有”。

如果原住民希望拥有原住民土地权，他们必须证明自己对某一块土地具有原住民土地所有权或控制。出于这个原因，原住民土地权的问题不会发生在澳大利亚的城市和人口密集地区。

在澳大利亚北部内陆地区以及农业和矿业中，原住民土地权是非常复杂的、但非常重要的。原住民土地所有权不属于本文的讨论范围。

4.3 产权制度

澳大利亚几乎适用于境内所有土地的所有权体系，被称为托伦斯体系。这是一个通过注册登记来创建并授予土地所有权的体系。

该体系中的每个所有权都是经过注册登记的，且具有唯一的编号。各州注册机构 记录所有的土地所有权以及每一个土地所有权和地块的所有人是谁。一旦您注册成为土地所有权的拥有者，您将成为该土地的拥有者。注册授予您一个“不可撤销的”土地所有权。没有人，包括政府，可以剥夺您的土地，只要您的土地是依法取得的。

5. 尽职调查

在澳大利亚，您需要知道关于“尽职调查”的表达，因为它在大多数重要的商业或房地产收购时经常被提及。

尽职调查简单来说就是在您决定购买待售的地产、资产或业务之前，进行的尽可能深入的调查。您也应该对对方进行调查，以便能够更好地决定购买或不购买该资产，并更好地了解和能够通过谈判达成尽可能有利的交易。

如果您正在寻求在澳大利亚进行重大投资，在承诺购买或签署任何合同之前，您必须至少做以下的事情：

a) 请确保您已进行适当的尽职调查，根据您进行的令人满意的尽职调查签订任何合同或进行任何收购; 及

b) 寻求法律及会计意见，以便以适当的实体或组织收购业务或地产，从而您可以了解到您的收购可能受到的某些限制。

这些事务可能会产生费用，这些费用看起来似乎有可能是潜在的浪费，因为您最终可能因为各种原因不会购买该地产、业务或资产。

然而， 在您决定开始之前，不花费这些资金来获取最好的信息和建议是错误的节约。这就像保险一样，是值得花的钱。

由于代表客户进行了适当的尽职调查，交易没有进行，这种情况我们已经多次经历 。在这些经历中，投资者在尽职调查前被告知了的信息通常是错误的，或投资者由于误解了某些事或不明白澳大利亚的法律而对他们准备购买的标的物产生的印象是错误的。

在某些情况下，业主可能会说谎或夸大某些事情或隐瞒重要的信息。 在其他情况下， 客户完全误解了他们可以做哪些事，或者认为这个问题很容易解决，然而事实并不是这样。

还有，在某些情况下，由于投资者在澳大利亚拥有一名“可信赖的”顾问，并依赖其建议，然后出现了问题。该建议被证明是站不住脚的，因为这个值得信赖的顾问没有、或没被要求做任何尽职调查，或在该交易中其存在个人利益。

最重要的是，任何尽职调查都应由唯一的焦点和兴趣是获得事实并对您、投资者提出关于该事实的建议的人不偏不倚地进行，这样您才能做出真正明智的决定。

作者：豪力合伙人卢•范瑞诺帝（Lou Farinotti）

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【专业干货——助您成功投资澳洲业务】

欲查阅之前我们发布的如下【在澳经商基本法律法规】主题系列以及与您生意相关的其他资讯，请进入订阅号点击右上角按钮，选择“查看历史消息”：

· 在澳大利亚成立公司须知

· 澳大利亚相关背景，例如包括澳大利亚政府制度、法律制度、企业结构

· 其他常见领域法律与规定，例如技术与知识产权保护、反垄断和消费者保护法、合同法、公开接管、电子商务、商业移民和雇主担保签证、房地产、环境法等

· 专业信息与见解，如对外商投资的监管要求等

（原创文章，欢迎转发，谢谢关注！未经授权，严禁转载！）

Investing in Real Estate in Australia [Part 1]

1. Introduction – Holding Redlich

Holding Redlich is a national Australian law firm.

Property is an area of law that our firm specialises in, having one of the biggest property law practices in Australia. We represent some of Australia’s biggest property owners and developers.

2. Introduction – Buying Real Estate

Australian real estate has for many years now, been a very attractive area of investment for overseas investors, particularly Chinese investors.

For example , in 2012/2013 around half of all major apartment developments in Melbourne were Chinese funded or developed.

When buying or selling land in Australia there are a number of very important matters that need to be understood and taken into consideration.

Foreign persons can buy, and frequently do buy, land in Australia but there are restrictions that apply to foreign persons wanting to buy which this paper will briefly discuss and summarise later. In the accompanying materials there are articles and a more detailed analysis of the foreign investment restrictions and obligations.

A Chinese resident wanting to invest in land in Australiawill want to know:

(a) What land can I buy?

(b) How do I buy the land?

(c) What issues or restrictions will I be faced with as a foreign person?

(d) When I buy, what am I buying? What is the nature of the title I acquire?

(e) What duties, taxes and other costs will I be required to pay?

(f) Should I buy the land in my name, or what entity or structure can I use to buy land?

(g) What will I be able to use the land for?

This paper provides a short explanation and summary of Australia’s titling and legal system as it relates to buying and selling real estate. This will answer the above questions for you.

3. Background

To understand the laws governing property and property ownership in Australia, you first need to understand our government structure.

Australia is a federation comprising six states, two major mainland territories and other minor territories. The states are New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (VIC), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Western Australia (WA) and Tasmania (TAS). The two major mainland territories are the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT).

The Australian Constitution does not provide the Commonwealth with power over real estate law and, accordingly, real estate is governed by each individual state or territory.

As a result, ownership of land is controlled by the states not the Federal Government. In China, as you know, the central government owns all land exclusively. However, there are large parts of Australia, such as Canberra, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland, where land is only available as a leasehold, which is similar to the Chinese system.

Although the State Governments control the ownership of land, the Federal Government still has important powers that affect land and its ownership. One of the most important powers the Federal Government has over land is the power to control who can own land. That is particularly relevant to anyone who is not an Australian citizen or resident. The Federal Government controls and dictates what land or types of land a foreigner can buy or is prohibited from buying.

The Federal Government also imposes taxes, duties and GST on land and land transactions. State Governments impose their own taxes on land in the form of rates, land tax and stamp duty. As a result, it is important to understand that when you buy and own land in Australia, you will be subject to layers of laws that apply to land from both Federal and State Governments. It is also very important that, when buying land in Australia or buying or conducting any business in Australia, you investigate which is the best structure or entity to use to minimise current or future tax consequences. All too often, foreign investors who have not obtained proper advice before buying find themselves in situations where they pay more tax than they need to.

As you cannot transfer assets between structures without incurring significant stamp duty or tax consequences, it is not easy to rectify mistakes.

There is a third layer of government, being local municipal governments, that can also significantly affect land and its uses.

4. Real Estate Rights

4.1 Freehold Title

The most common and important form of land ownership in Australia is freehold title. Having freehold title means that you as the owner are the absolute owner of the land. It is your land and no one else’s. No part of the land belongs to any government and it is all your land.

There are other types of land titles as mentioned above, such as crown land and leasehold title. Leasehold title is where someone is given the right to use and occupy the land for a period of time whilst having to pay the owner rent or a fee for the use of the land. This is a concept and title which is common in China. This paper will not deal with leaseholdsbut it is important to note that a lot of large agricultural and mining areas in northern Australia are leasehold land, not freehold.

4.2 Native Title

In 1992 the highest Court in Australia made a decision in a case called “Mabo”. Since the Mabo decision, Australia has had to come to terms with the concept of native title.

Native title can only be “owned” or possessed by Australia’s indigenous inhabitants, being the Aboriginals.

For Aboriginals to have native title, they must establish their ownership or control over a parcel of native land. For this reason, native title issues do not arise in the cities and populated areas in Australia.

Native title is complex and of significant importance in the northern Australian outback and in the agricultural and mining industries. It is beyond the scope of this paper to deal with native title.

4.3 Title Systems

Australia’s title system, which applies to nearly all of the land in Australia, is known as the Torrens system. It is a system that creates and gives title to the land by registration.

Each title under the system is registered and has a unique number. The state registrars record all the titles and who the owner of each title and parcel of land is. Once you are registered as the owner of the title you are the owner of the land. Registration gives you an “indefeasible” title to the land. No one, including the Governments, can take the land away from you, provided that you acquired the land legally.

5. Due Diligence

In Australia, you need to be aware of the expression “due diligence” as it is often mentioned when dealing with most major business or property acquisitions.

Due diligence simply means conducting as thorough an investigation as is possible before you commit to buying the property, assets or business that are for sale. You should also investigate the other party, so as to be in a better position to make the decision to buy or not to buy the asset and to become better informed and able to negotiate the best deal possible.

If you are looking at making a significant investment in Australia, you must do at least the following things before committing to buy or before signing any contracts:

(a) make sure you have conducted a proper due diligence investigation or make any contract or purchase subject to you undertaking a satisfactory due diligence; and

(b) obtain legal and accounting advice as to the proper entity or structure to use in acquiring the business or property so you can understand what restrictions may apply to you buying.

Doing both these things will cost you money which may appear to be money that is potentially wasted, as you may not end up buying the property, business or asset for what could be a variety of reasons.

However, it is a false economy not to spend the money to get the best information and advice that maybe available, before you commit to proceeding. It is like insurance and is money well spent.

Our office has already experienced a number of situations where, as a result of a proper due diligence being conducted on a client’s behalf, the transaction did not proceed. In these situations, what the investor was told was not true or the investor had the wrong impression about what they were buying because they had misunderstood things or did not understand Australian laws.

In some instances, it was a case of the vendor lying or exaggerating about certain things or hiding important information. In others, the client had totally misunderstood what they would be permitted to do or believed the problem was easy to fix, when it was not.

Additionally, in some instances the problem has arisen because the investor had a “trusted” advisor in Australia and was relying on their recommendation. That recommendation proved to be ill-founded because the trusted advisor had failed to do, or was not asked to do, any due diligence, or had personal interests in the transaction going ahead.

What is important is that any due diligence be undertaken in a way that is unbiased and by someone whose only focus and interest is to get to the facts and advise you, the investor, of the facts, so that you can make a truly informed decision.

Author: Lou Farinotti - Partner at Holding Redlich

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【We provide excellent expert advice to businesses wishing to invest in Australia.】

To view our previous news releases for Chinese investors and the following articles of the topic ‘Basic legal knowledge on doing business in Australia’, please click the upper-right button on our WeChat platform, andclick ‘view previous information’:

· Business set up in Australia, business structures, company administration, etc.

· Background information of Australia, including Australian government, legal system, and business structures, etc.

· Laws and regulations in various common areas, including protection of technology and intellectual property, anti-trust and consumer law, contract law, business migration, realproperty, public takeovers, and electronic commerce etc.

· Professional industrial updates and insights, such as regulation on foreign investment