Governmental Affairs

The German-Australian Chamber is engaging with the Australian Government, State and Territory governments and the German government to deepen the bilateral trade and investment relationship. We support the German-Australian business community through submissions, participation in hearings and ongoing dialogue with relevant stakeholders. Our engagement covers a range of business-related issues such as trade and investment, immigration rules, energy and industry policy and agritech. Our dialogues include annual Governmental Affairs delegations to Canberra and Germany and we thank your engaged member companies for their expertise and insights that form the basis for your engagement. The most recent examples include the German business delegation in the field of mining and raw materials to Sydney and Perth headed by State Secretary Dr. Franziska Brantner to promote trade relations and our activities in hydrogen innovation.

The Chamber hosts delegations to Canberra for its members, discussing current and future economic policies with senior government officials in the nations capital.

The policy driven delegations, most recently in March 2023, feature a brimming program of Australian ministerial discussion rounds, including the Ministries for Foreign Affairs, Trade & Tourism, Energy & Climate Change, Department for Health & Aged Care and EU-Australian Free Trade Agreements officials. Throughout the delegation, the German Chamber closely collaborates with the German Embassy to Australia and the European Union Delegation representatives.

The emphasis during the discussion rounds is on the joint German-Australian areas of interest, for example in the EU-Australian Free Trade Agreement negotiations, bilateral Critical Minerals Trade, innovation collaboration in Green Energy transition, digitalisation and more!

We will continue to promote and facilitate this key component of German-Australian business relations in the years to come.  

The German-Australian Chamber supports German delegations to Australia and is also organising policy-focussed and industry-specific delegations to Germany.

The policy-focussed delegations, most recently in June 2023, feature a packed program of engagements with the German government, including the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, members of the Bundestag, the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and representatives from large and small companies relevant for the Australian market, especially Mittelstand companies.

Key topics in the discussions are joint areas of interest such as digitalisation / Industry 4.0 and the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement negotiations. We will continue this important engagement with our partners in Germany on an ongoing basis.