Australian taxpayers are being warned they are at risk of picking up the bill if Australia is sued by multinational corporations under a new international trade agreement to be signed this week.

Under the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be signed in Chile on March 8, Australia has committed to allowing the employment of workers from six new countries without requiring them to first check if there is an Australian who could do the same job. The six new countries granted waivers to requirements for labour market testing are Mexico, Chile, Japan, Canada, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The ACTU said the Australian government has also chosen to give up Australia's sovereignty to being sued by foreign corporations when they believe a change in Australian laws are affecting their profits. This had left "the taxpayer open to picking up the bill for [multinational corporations] if they disagree with our public policies".

The ACTU said the government could exclude future tobacco control laws, but Australia could be vulnerable to being sued for other legislation changes.