This note highlights key country-specific findings and trends for Australia identified in the 2025 update of the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI). It provides an updated profile of Australia’s regulatory environment across 22 services sectors from 2014 to 2025. The note highlights recent policy changes affecting services trade, identifies areas where the country performs well and points to sectors where reforms could further reduce services trade restrictions. 

The note also situates Australia’s regulatory developments within broader international trends, supporting evidence based decisions and facilitating analysis of the drivers and impediments shaping its services trade performance. The STRI allows policymakers, regulators and exporters to compare services trade barriers over time and across 51 economies, offering a transparent and consistent assessment of market openness.

Key findings 

• Australia is just below the OECD average and relatively low compared to all countries in the STRI sample. The index has remained stable compared to 2024. 
• Legal services are the most open services sector in Australia compared to the average sectoral STRI across all countries, while courier services are the most restricted. 
• Despite the overall favourable environment for services trade in Australia, economy-wide restrictive policies are present related to the movement of natural persons and the government procurement framework.

Recommendation

• Governments should reinvigorate services trade reform to avoid falling behind in an increasingly artificial intelligence driven global economy, where outdated regulatory frameworks and persistent asymmetries risk constraining competitiveness, innovation and inclusive growth.