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ASIC will lift the ban on short selling of non-financial securities effective 19 November. The ban on short selling of financial securities will continue until 27 January 2009. Naked short selling will be banned indefinitely by the ASX. A set of reporting and disclosure requirements will also be in place where clients are required to report the type sale to the broker.   

Refer to ASIC website for more information.

http://www.asic.gov.au/ASIC/asic.nsf/byHeadline/AD08-65%20ASIC%20lifts%20ban%20on%20covered%20short%20selling%20for%20non-financial%20securities?opendocument

Effective from 22 September 2008, short selling in all its forms will be banned for 30 days until further advise from ASIC.

CFD traders and providers will be significantly affected given one of the advantages for CFD traders is the flexiblity to go short.

Although the measures are temporary, the period of ban is particularly uncertain for financial stocks as it depends on global regulator actions. It is worth noting that ASIC considers short selling contributes to price discovery in the market.

Refer to ASIC's website for more details.

http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/08-205+Covered+short+selling+not+permitted?openDocument