The first national audit of foreign ownership of rural land shows Britain, not China, owns the most rural land in Australia, despite the recent public focus on Chinese ownership.
The United States is the second-highest-ranking country on the register, followed by the Netherlands with almost 3 million hectares.
Singapore is next at almost 2 million hectares, and China has 1.5 million - less than 0.5 per cent of total agricultural land across the country.
The Philippines, Switzerland, Jersey, Indonesia and Japan are also among the top 10 foreign buyers.
The register shows 13.6 per cent of Australia's farmland is foreign-owned.
British-based investors own 27.5 million hectares, or almost 53 per cent of that portion.
Treasurer Scott Morrison says the figures belie concerns about foreign ownership of Australian farmland and says it will help give people confidence about the issue.
"Foreign investment is an important part of our economic plan. It's an important part of our prosperity over generations. And we want that to continue, but it must be on our terms. In a lot of these transactions, we're seeing hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into new equipment, new technologies, new processing plants, new crops, all of these sorts of things, and that's supporting jobs in rural and regional Australia."
The Coalition established the register last year to address growing concerns that there was too little oversight regarding foreign ownership.
The register requires all foreign owners of Australian farmland to be registered with the Australian Tax Office and any new interests to be registered within 30 days of purchase.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says the information provides the basic transparency necessary to ensure confidence in agricultural investment.
He says the register shows fears over Chinese investment are unfounded and the government has the capacity to decide what is best in the national interest.
"We are not just a sort of all-things-go* type of Government. We have the proper discernment. We have the proper oversight. We've seen that with the Ausgrid sale, we've seen that with the Kidman sale, that we have a diligence. And people can understand that diligence, because they can see in our actions how, generally, the answer is yes, providing you've got the right reasons, but we reserve (the right to) and, at times say, the word 'no.'"
National Farmers Federation chief executive Tony Maher says the register is good for Australia.
Mr Maher has told the ABC the most important thing is Australia retains the capacity to continue to produce the food and fibre the markets need.
"Foreign investment has been good for agriculture. We think it will continue to be good for agriculture. If we're going to take the next step as an industry and be a $100 billion industry, which we think we can, we need a range of further investments, so domestic and foreign. And that will allow us to be much more globally competitive in some of these growing markets where consumers are seeking changes in their diets and food and fibre. This register allows us to have that discussion and really, you know, address any of those fears that are out there in the community."
The Opposition says, although the register is welcome, it does not do what the Government promised.
It says the register does not specify where foreign governments or foreign-government investors own the land.
