Policies and Legal Aspects Regulating Property Investment in Australia

PROPERTY INVESTMENT
POLICIES AND LEGAL ASPECTS REGULATING PROPERTY INVESTMENT IN
AUSTRALIA
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PROPERTY INVESTMENT
Description Page Number
1.0 Introduction 2
2.0 Background of Australia 2 & 3
3.0 Policies & Legal Structures 3 & 4
4.0 Taxation Effect on Property 4
5.0 Investment Performance 5
6.0 References 6
Introduction
Commonwealth is an association which supports each other and work towards an
international goal as a family of people and most of them are former British colonies or
dependencies of these colonies. There is 52 member countries that are independent sovereign
states countries include Africa, Asia, Caribbean and Americas, Europe and the Pacific (The
Commonwealth, 2017).
Background of Australia
Australia was a founder member of the Commonwealth in 1931 when its independence was
recognized under the Statute of Westminster. The term ‘Australia’ is derived from Terra
Australis, the name given to a southern landmass whose existence geographers deduced before it
was discovered. Papua New Guinea (to the north) and New Zealand (to the east) are Australia’s

PROPERTY INVESTMENT
closest neighbours. To the south lie the Southern Ocean and Antarctica (The Commonwealth,
2017).
The Commonwealth of Australia is a Federation with six states – New South Wales (state capital
Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne), Queensland (Brisbane), South Australia (Adelaide), Western
Australia (Perth) and Tasmania (Hobart) – and two territories, Northern Territory (capital
Darwin) and the Australian Capital Territory, where the federal capital, Canberra, is situated.
Australia also has external territories (described in the profiles following this one). These have
small populations or are uninhabited and, apart from the vast Australian Antarctic Territory, are
small islands (The Commonwealth, 2017).
Policies & Legal Structures
Australia by virtue of being a colony of British they use modified policies, laws and
regulations that govern, control and manage the manner in which they do business. These
guidelines create a fair ground for persons investing as well as promoting the ease aspect of
doing business without fear of losing money. Ideally, the aspect of willing buyer willing seller is
profoundly expected to be safeguarded by the regulation and policies whose origin is based on
the commonwealth ground. Property investment in Australia involves a wide spectrum of
activities rotating across land trading and land value addition via the construction of fixtures on
the land. Property investment in Australia over the years has shown robust growth of an average
of 4% annually. Real estates and housing rates in Australia since the 1990s were further seen to
rise by 6% per annum on gradual scale basis thus attracting more investors close to the property
market in Australia Baum (2014.Pg 11).
Australian property investments are more likely to suffer mischief, victimization, and
compromise thus the need to introduce policies, legal structures, and regulation to guide the
latter. However, these policies are either seen to promote or to protect the investment.
Implementation of land planning laws restricted and ration land usage system both in rural and
urban areas hence controlled green-land development in lieu of infill development. The land
planning system main purpose was to control and lower the cost of housing Easthope (2014.Pg
580).
Control of credit facility via bank interest rates and bank policy has seen into it the ease
of provision of credit facility for the finance of the investment at returnable value. Australian
Reserve Bank over the years has been implementing this policy so as to boost persons willing to