Australia's ambassador to the United States, Joe Hockey, is the director of two businesses which have their registered address as the official residence in Washington DC, a parliamentary committee has heard.
Labor senator Penny Wong asked Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials about Mr Hockey's directorship of companies, Xai Family and Rahbah, which Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show have the address of the ambassadorial home.
"It is not a good look," Senator Wong said.
DFAT Secretary Frances Adamson said she was not aware of it and would look into it.
DFAT's Chief People Officer Daniel Sloper told the Senate estimates hearing he did not think it would be appropriate if a family business was registered to the address, given the department's code of conduct.
Liberal senator Eric Abetz, a former ministerial colleague of Mr Hockey, later said he had been informed the two companies had registered offices in Sydney.
The committee also heard Mr Hockey, who has previously faced questions over his interests in travel firm Helloworld, had scratched out a section of a routine declaration of interests form.
The section of the form said: "I have no personal, financial or other interests that could or could be seen to influence decisions or actions I am taking or the advice I am giving in connection with my official duties."
"He advised ... it was a judgment that he could not be reasonably expected to have confidence in preventing others having," Mr Sloper said.
The committee heard such an annotation to the form was "unusual" and DFAT's policy was being "refreshed".
Mr Hockey said in February, when the issue of Helloworld's government travel services and his shareholding in the company was raised, that he had complied with DFAT's disclosure rules.
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