Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Birmingham, I move:

That the following matters be referred to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee for inquiry and report by 11 February 2025:

(a) an assessment of the consistency in application of Australia's sanctions regime compared with Australia's key partners and allies, including the identification of any gaps and time lags in their application;

(b) consideration of the evidence on how effective more timely, universal and predictable sanctions regimes are in targeting and addressing behaviour of designated individuals and entities;

(c) identification and consideration of existing sanctions coordination and harmonisation frameworks and mechanisms between countries;

(d) consideration of specific measures to improve the coordination, collaboration, timeliness and multilateralisation of sanctions;

(e) consideration of mechanisms to freeze and confiscate assets belonging to sanctioned persons/entities and how the proceeds can be used to benefit peoples and countries impacted by the behaviour of sanctioned individuals and entities;

(f) consideration of options to enhance the effectiveness of Australia's sanctions regime through engagement with the Australian community, civil society, financial institutions and other organisations;

(g) identification and consideration of methods to assess the effectiveness of sanctions decisions and/or the extent to which sanctions are having the intended impact, and recommend any improvements;

(h) consideration of how Australia's sanctions regime could better align with Australia's existing anti-corruption and crime measures, including to better target Australians involved in designated actions; and

(i) any recommendations on improvements to Australia's sanctions framework.