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http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/403/HTML/docshell.asp?URL=Ch9.asp

Chapter 6D - Sophisticated investor
The Corporations Act requires that an offer of securities or debentures needs prospectus disclosure to investors unless excluded in section 708. Along with exclusions for small offerings, subsections 708(8) to 708(20) of the Corporations Act identify certain persons and circumstances as not requiring disclosure, including the following persons:

�a 'sophisticated investor;' which is defined where:
◦the minimum amount payable for securities is at least $500,000; or
◦the collective amount invested in the same class of securities adds up to $500,000; or
◦a qualified accountant certifies the net asset worth of $2.5 million or gross income for each of the last two financial years of at least $250,000 per annum.
�the offer is made to a person through a financial services licensee where the licensee is satisfied that the person has relevant previous experience in investing in securities; and
�a 'professional investor,' as defined in section 9 of the Corporations Act.
The exemption for 'sophisticated investors' recognises that certain investors are able to protect their own investment interests without regulatory protection. In fact, both industry and such investors may discourage regulatory coverage and consider the imposition of any legislative disclosure to be an unwanted cost and burden.