A person may become liable to register under the scheme:

  (a)   if the person undertakes registrable activities on behalf of a foreign principal (even if the person only does so once); or

  (b)   if the person enters an arrangement with a foreign principal to undertake registrable activities on behalf of the foreign principal (whether or not the person actually undertakes the activities).

Whether a particular activity is registrable or not depends on who the foreign principal is and the purpose of the activity, and in some cases on the person's former status.

Once a person becomes liable to register, the person has 14 days to apply for registration.

The person must register for each foreign principal on whose behalf the person undertakes registrable activities.

In most cases, the person continues to be liable to register in relation to a foreign principal until the person notifies the Secretary otherwise and ceases to have any arrangement with the foreign principal.

Registration usually ends if the person notifies the Secretary that the person has ceased to be liable or if the person fails to annually renew the registration.

There are exemptions to ensure that a person does not have to register under the scheme for certain activities that commonly involve arrangements with foreign principals (for example, diplomatic and consular activities or activities for the purposes of providing humanitarian aid or humanitarian assistance).