Trade deals would need impact studies and no investor suits
Trade deals shape jobs, prices and what medicines cost. But they are mostly worked out behind closed doors. This bill would set rules in law for how Australia works out future free trade deals. It also says what those deals can never include.
Official name: Trade and Investment Agreements (Consultation) Bill 2026
- A new advice group would help on trade deals. It would include unions, farmers, business and community groups.
- The government would have to say when talks start, publish its goals and publish independent studies of each deal.
- Future deals could not let foreign companies sue Australia in special overseas panels. They could not weaken the medicine subsidy scheme, which makes medicines cheaper.
- Each new deal would get an independent review within about five years of starting.
- The bill is in the Senate and has not yet been debated.
Who it affects
- Workers and unions: Unions get seats on the advice group. Deals could not drop checks on hiring local workers first.
- Farmers, exporters and businesses: They get seats on the group. The government must push for better access to other markets for their goods.
- Anyone who uses the medicine subsidy scheme: Future trade deals could not include promises that weaken the scheme that makes medicines cheaper.
- First Nations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) people: The government must push for their trade interests. Deals must leave room for government buying rules that help them.
- The public: They would see when talks start, what Australia is aiming for, and independent studies of each deal.
Trade deals made in secret
Australia has trade deals with 31 countries and economies. The government says trade backed almost 3.45 million full-time jobs in 2023-24. That is more than one in four jobs.
A free trade deal is a deal between countries. They agree to cut taxes on goods from each other, and other barriers to trade.
These deals are mostly worked out in secret. Since the early 2000s, critics have worried about them. They fear the deals could weaken Australia's power to make its own laws, or hurt jobs and medicine prices. The deal with the US in 2004, and a big Pacific deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, drew strong worries.
In 2023 the government asked a group of MPs and senators who look at trade to study how Australia makes these deals. Their 2024 reports gave 13 pieces of advice. One was a law to set rules for trade talks. This bill puts some of the advice in place.
The Parliamentary Library works for all MPs and takes no side. It says the bill also keeps promises in the Labor party's 2023 platform, its list of policies.
Which deals are covered
The rules apply to big, broad free trade deals. These open up almost all trade in goods and services. They can be with one country or several. Major upgrades to these deals are covered too.
Small deals about a single industry are not covered. Nor are deals that do not legally hold Australia to its promises.
Most of the rules only apply to talks that start after the law begins. So deals already being worked out, like the one with India, are mostly left out. A deal signed but not yet started, like the one with the European Union, is left out too.
A new advisory group
The bill sets up a Trade Advisory Group. It has a Chair and six or seven other members. The Minister for Trade picks them for up to four years.
It must include people who speak for farming, employers and business, small business and community groups. It must include a trade union and a top union body. There must also be a university researcher.
Members are not paid, but the rules may cover travel costs. They must say if they have interests that clash with the job. The group must meet at least once every four months while talks are going on.
The Minister can share secret details of talks with members. They must sign a promise to keep them secret. A member who leaks them could face up to 2 years in jail, a fine of 120 penalty units, or both. A penalty unit is a set dollar amount used to work out fines. The Parliamentary Library says the fine is $43,680.
New steps during talks
The Minister would have to say on the trade department's website when talks for a covered deal begin. The Minister would also have to publish Australia's goals for the talks. The advice group would see a draft first.
Within three months of publishing the goals, the Minister must order an independent study. It would look at how the deal could affect Australia's economy and community. The study must be done within eight months, and before the deal is signed.
The group gets a copy, and then it is made public. Secret or business-sensitive parts can be taken out.
Before signing, the Minister must tell the group what the deal will likely say and ask its advice. The Minister does not have to wait for that advice or follow it. The advice is not made public.
What Australia must push for
The bill lists topics where Australia must argue for its interests in every covered deal. They include trade in goods and services, online trade, investment and what governments buy.
Other topics are the trade interests of First Nations people, and workers' rights under world work standards. They include the movement of workers and business people. Protecting nature, protecting shoppers and Australian culture are on the list too. The Minister can add more topics.
What deals cannot include
The Minister could not sign a covered deal unless it keeps Australia's power to make rules for the public good. Examples are rules for public welfare and product safety.
The Minister also could not sign a deal with investor-state dispute settlement. This lets a foreign company sue a government in a special overseas panel, if a new law hurts its investment. Say Australia brought in tough new health rules for a product. Under these rules, a foreign maker could sue Australia for lost profits.
Deals could not drop labour market testing further than Australia has already agreed at the World Trade Organization, the global body that sets trade rules. Labour market testing means checking that no local workers are free, before hiring from overseas.
Deals also could not weaken the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That is the medicine subsidy scheme, which keeps medicines cheap. Nor could they weaken Australia's tools against goods sold here unfairly cheap.
Deals could not stop the government using its buying power in some ways. It could still use it to protect defence and back local small businesses. It could still use it to protect public health or national treasures, or to help First Nations people.
Investment treaties
A bilateral investment treaty is a deal between two countries to protect each other's investors. Many of Australia's older ones let investors sue governments in special overseas panels.
For new investment deals, the Minister would have to protect Australia's right to make rules for the public good. The Minister also could not sign one that lets investors sue the government in a special overseas panel.
Reviews after a deal starts
Each covered deal must get an independent review of its effects on the economy and the community. The review must also check if the partner country gave better terms to anyone else. It is usually due within five years of the deal starting. It can be later if a major upgrade comes in.
Deals less than five years old when the law starts would also be reviewed, within five years of the law starting. The advice group is asked for its views, and the report is made public.
Waiting in the Senate
The law would start on a date the government sets. At the latest, it starts on the first day of the month that begins 6 months after it becomes law.
The government brought the bill to the Senate, Parliament's second house, on 1 July 2026. The debate on its main idea was opened the same day. It still needs to be debated and passed by the Senate, and then the House of Representatives, where the government is formed.
Its journey through Parliament
| 01 Jul 2026 | Senate: Introduced and read a first time |
| 01 Jul 2026 | Senate: Second reading moved |