TED O’BRIEN MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
MEMBER FOR FAIRFAX
MEDIA STATEMENT
Thursday 20 August 2026
COALITION FORCES LABOR TO MOVE ON FOREIGN RESEARCH LOOPHOLE
The Albanese Government has fallen to pressure to amend its own Bill on foreign arrangements to address a national security loophole identified by the Coalition.
The move comes after continued pressure from the Coalition following Labor’s decision to vote down a Coalition amendment in the House to close a loophole in the law that allows sensitive researcher-to-researcher collaborations with foreign actors to occur without any government oversight.
The Coalition established the Foreign Arrangements Scheme in 2020 following the Victorian Labor Government’s agreement with the People’s Republic of China under its Belt and Road Initiative, giving the Commonwealth powers to intervene where foreign arrangements undermine Australia’s interests.
However, years of experience of operating the Scheme showed that sensitive collaboration can face scrutiny when entered into by a university, but fall outside the Scheme when undertaken directly by a university researcher.
The Coalition demanded this anomaly be fixed and despite Labor initially refusing to act, they finally came to the table and put forward their own amendment which the Coalition has today supported.
It is good to see researcher-level collaborations now be brought into the Scheme, and I welcome the government’s recognition of the need to take this issue seriously.
However, the job is not yet done.
While researcher-level collaborations fall within the foreign arrangements regime, they can still take place without the government being notified.
Recent cases involving Australian researchers collaborating with Iranian counterparts on drone-related technology and Chinese counterparts on sensitive dual-use technologies show why this matters.
A recent PJCIS inquiry has also identified researcher-to-researcher engagement as a material national security risk.
Labor has moved because the Coalition forced this issue onto the agenda. I welcome their response, but the government should finish the job and close the loophole properly.
ENDS
