Locate the provider and service
The geographical link is a separate part of the scope assessment. Section 6(6) of the Act sets out alternatives involving permanent establishments in Australia and specified foreign establishments. A customer address alone does not answer those alternatives. Start with the legal person providing the service and identify the establishment through which it acts. Then apply the relevant limb. A cross-border operating structure needs an assessment of its specific facts and applicable provisions.
Section 6(6) excludes item 32A of table 1 from its geographical test. Remittance network providers need a separate scope assessment.
Source: Federal Register of Legislation: Section 6(6).
- Service provider
Identify the legal person providing the designated service.
- Relevant establishment
Identify the establishment through which the service is provided.
- Section 6(6)
Assess the applicable Australian or specified foreign-establishment limb.
Examine the provider and establishment
A customer's address alone does not decide the geographical link. This is a review sequence, not a complete cross-border scope decision.
Follow the process from top to bottom.
Map the delivery chain
For a practical review, draw the path from the customer instruction to the team delivering the service. Note the contracting entity, office, staff location and any agent involved. Keep those facts separate from the location of a website, bank account or customer. Ask which facts establish the relevant legal connection and which are merely supporting context. If an operating model spans countries, obtain advice for that model. A marketing address does not determine the legal result.
Source: Federal Register of Legislation: Section 6(6).
- Service
A fictional firm provides a service to an overseas customer.
- Australian office
Identify the entity and establishment through which the firm provides that service.
- Overseas customer
The customer’s address does not by itself decide the geographical link.
- Applicable limb
Apply section 6(6) to the actual provider and establishment. This sketch does not settle the full scope assessment.
An overseas customer and an Australian office
The labelled links explain the arrangement. They do not determine its legal treatment.
Invented example. Service provided by the firm. Australian office: Provides the service. Overseas customer: Receives the service.
Invented example: an overseas customer
Consider an Australian firm advising a customer who lives overseas. The customer’s residence is not enough to decide whether the firm is outside Australian scope. The reviewer first identifies the firm providing the service and where the service is provided through its business.
Now reverse the example: a foreign operation has an Australian customer. That also needs a provider-and-establishment analysis. These examples show the direction of the enquiry. They do not settle either business’s legal position.
Keep the boundary current
Store the establishment analysis with the service map. Suggested evidence includes entity details, the operating arrangement and the reason the selected limb applies. Record unresolved facts and the person responsible for resolving them. Review the result when you move a function, appoint an agent or change the contracting entity. Do not automatically copy Australian procedures into every foreign operation: the application of particular obligations also needs checking. A clear map helps an adviser answer the right question with fewer missing facts.
Escalate structural uncertainty
If documents identify different providers, reconcile them before drawing a geographical conclusion. A contract, invoice and operational process may point to different entities. Record the inconsistency and ask the responsible adviser to resolve it. The aim is a reliable factual basis, not a diagram that merely matches the preferred outcome.