Foreign investors can set up branches and subsidiaries in Australia relatively easily and inexpensively. The federal Corporations Act 2001 provides the relevant corporate legal basis for corporations in Australia. Australian partnership law falls within the competence of the states or territories and is governed by seven Partnership Acts. The supervisory authority for company formation in Australia is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Detailed information on business formation, investments and taxes can be found in the expert report Australia: Company Formation and Taxes, which you can request from the Foreign Trade Centre Sydney.
FURTHERANCE
If you want to settle in a foreign market, you first have to reach into the cash register – even good service and advice do not change that. Marketing, legal advice, finding a partner: everything costs before it brings anything. Even with good preparation, there is no guarantee of success when you enter new investment territory.
The direct subsidies from the go-internationalization offensive cushion risks and relieve companies. Among other things, travel and marketing costs, fees of local industry experts, trade fair and congress participation, legal and tax advice on the subject of business start-ups and market analyses are eligible for funding.
ASSIGNMENT OF REPRESENTATIONS
Types of representatives
Australia covers an area 90 times larger than that of Austria. The relevant economic areas (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide) are very concentrated, but not necessarily interconnected. This means that it is not easy to find a representative for All Australia who can effectively cover the individual states.
Australian companies usually insist on granting exclusivity, although it should be checked whether the partner actually has a nationwide distribution structure. If this is not the case, a spatial demarcation (e.B. to Australian states) can be made or the appointment of sub-representatives can be provided. If exclusivity has been agreed, however, it should also be strictly adhered to
Since Australia does not have its own right of representation and representation contracts can be freely agreed according to the “common law”, these are usually much more extensive than in the EU. What has not been specified (in writing) in an agency agreement virtually does not exist, even if there is a relevant case law that partially supplements or interprets representation contracts with regard to possible severance payments, etc.
The type of representation depends above all on the product, the business volume and the type of desired market cultivation (e.B. partial production, assembly, construction of a consignment warehouse, service workshop, etc.). The most common type of agent in Australia is importers for their own account (“distributor”) and representatives for the account of others (“agent”).
Certain products, such as consumer goods, raw materials, numerous semi-finished products and all goods that require a warehouse for rapid delivery to the end customer, are usually distributed by importers (“distributors”). They buy and sell on their own account. Even pure commission agents often have a spare parts warehouse for customer service, which at least in part often makes them importers on their own account.
