I find it really strange that there is no identification paper that show someone is legally a resident or not in Australia.
Google turn up the following :-
You don't know what does it mean by "Non-Resident" Non-Resident is anything other than Citizens, Permanent Resident and Legal Temporary Resident, of course Permanent Resident have to have identification, because it give you work right in Australia. By the way, if you are a permanent resident, you are legal to purchase a home in Australia. It doesn't matter if you still have Chinese or anywhere else citizenship.How about other temporary resident? Say Working Holiday maker? Which is a visa you can applies online.
How about Citizen? There are only 1 document that can prove you are an Australian Citizen and that is the passport, by law, you are not require to have one, and in fact, many Australian do not have one.
Also, ATO residency certificate is not a legal document to prove one residency, that is because that "residency" is for tax purpose, not for immigration status.
I am sure Australia government has a way to check if someone is an Australia resident or not. In the states, everyone has a Social Security Number; in China, everyone has a national ID. It would be a surprise to me if Australia Gov. has no way to check a home buyers's credential.
If there are loopholes in the legal system, don't blame on lawyers, blame on law makers.
Of course the government have ways to track who is Australian Resident or who is not, but is it the government who sell the Chinese buyer their house?
Selling/Buying house is a private transaction, which mean it does not require government input to buy houses, and that is not a loophole, it is the same everywhere.
Or if you are suggesting that everyone need a certificate or something from the government to prove residence before buying properties, that is not going to happen because of the privacy act. Also it did not address my issue, just because you can get away with the crime, that does not mean committing those crime become legal. My problem is with people who do not respect law, and people who justify breaking the law, which is what you are doing now.