EIGHTY-NINE per cent of Australia's agricultural land is owned by Aussies, according to data released today.
Australian Bureau of Statistics today released figures showing 99 per cent of agricultural businesses are Australian owned, and 91 per cent of water entitlements for agricultural purposes were also held by Australians or Australian companies.
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The Agricultural Land and Water Ownership report states 353 million hectares of Australia's 398 million hectares of farming land was entirely Australian owned.
The data collected by survey gives a snapshot of land ownership at December 2010.
Victoria had the lowest level of foreign ownership of farming land with 0.8 percent of its land or 99,500ha reported as having some level of foreign ownership.
The Northern Territory had the highest level of foreign ownership with 24 per cent or 14 million hectares reported as having some level of foreign ownership.
In March The Weekly Times reported a bill was before the Senate to tighten foreign ownership laws.
Real estate agents at the time said international inquiries for rural land were at their highest in a decade with most interest stemming from China and the Middle East.
Of Australia's 13,700 gigalitres of water entitlements used for agricultural purposes about 12,500 gigalitres was owned by entirely Australian owned business, 1169 gigalitres had some level of foreign ownership and 97 gigalitres had an unknown ownership status, according to the report.
