Claiming foreign net rental losses (on negatively geared property) – Temporary Resident Visa

Hi All,

I often get asked this question and I was hoping that someone might be able to definitively tell me the answer (citing your sources please). I am aware that "temporary resident visa holders" do not have to include overseas rental profits on their Australian tax return nor do they need to include Capital Gains/Losses on overseas rental properties in their Aussie returns. That's fine, I get that, and can easily find plenty of information from the ATO website about that.  however, what I can't find and what my question is…

Q: Can "Temporary resident visa" holders offset net overseas rental property losses (ignore capital losses) against Australian assessable income?

For Example Bob is a New Zealander who moved to Australia in 2012 and earns Gross PAYE income from his job in Sydney of AUD$50,000. He owns a rental property in Auckland, NZ that is negatively geared and makes an annual loss of NZD$10,000 after paying normal expenses. Can he offset this net loss of NZD$10,000 against his PAYE income of AUD$50,000 in his Australian Tax Return???

Please do not answer this unless you know for certain the answer and can refer to your source of the information

Thanks!