Registering a Company in Australia: The ASIC Process

Registering a company in Australia runs through a single regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), but the process touches two separate government bodies and two separate identifying numbers before you're actually ready to trade. Understanding which is which — and which ongoing obligations start counting down from the day ASIC approves your application — makes the difference between a clean registration and a company that's technically formed but not actually ready to operate.

The Legal Basis and the Usual Structure

Company registration in Australia is governed by the Corporations Act 2001, and ASIC is the regulator responsible for administering it. For a small or privately held business, the standard structure is a proprietary company limited by shares — universally referred to as a Pty Ltd — which is what the rest of this guide assumes unless otherwise noted.

How to Register

The most common route today is the Business Registration Service, at register.business.gov.au, a whole-of-government portal that lets you apply for your company's Australian Company Number (ACN) and, in the same session, its Australian Business Number (ABN), business name, and tax registrations like GST. ASIC processes the company-registration side of that application. A paper form (Form 201) remains available for company types or circumstances the online service doesn't support. You can also register — and handle your company's ongoing ASIC lodgements afterward — through a registered agent, typically an accountant or lawyer holding an ASIC-issued Registered Agent Number, though using one is optional rather than required.

What You Need Before You Apply

Name, Directors, and Address

You'll need a unique company name checked against the national names register, or you can simply use your company's ACN as its legal name if you don't want a separate trading name. A proprietary company needs at least one director; a public company needs at least three. At least one director of a proprietary company — and at least two directors of a public company — must ordinarily reside in Australia. Citizenship isn't required for this; permanent residents and holders of an appropriate visa can generally satisfy it, and what counts as "ordinarily resident" is assessed case by case rather than defined by a fixed test in the Act itself. The company also needs a registered office and a principal place of business, both physically located in Australia.

The Director ID Requirement

Since April 2022, every person appointed as a company director in Australia — regardless of residency — must hold a Director Identification Number (Director ID), issued by the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS), before they're appointed. The transitional period that let existing directors apply retroactively has closed; anyone becoming a new director today needs their Director ID first. Applying is free, must be done by the director personally (no one else can apply on their behalf), and can be done well ahead of the appointment — most guidance recommends allowing at least a couple of weeks. Skipping this step, or appointing a director who hasn't yet obtained one, risks real penalties, and it's one of the most common process mistakes first-time founders make when they're used to older registration procedures that didn't require it.

Fees

ASIC's fees are indexed annually every 1 July, so treat any dollar figure — including the ones below — as a snapshot to confirm against the current ASIC fee schedule before you rely on it. For the 2026-27 financial year (from 1 July 2026), the standard registration fee for a proprietary company limited by shares is commonly cited at $636, with an ongoing annual review fee of $342 due each year after registration, and a separate $65 fee if you want to reserve a company name in advance. Late payment of the annual review fee attracts an additional penalty that increases the longer the payment is overdue. Because these figures move every year without exception, check asic.gov.au directly at the time you're actually budgeting or filing.

ACN and ABN: Two Numbers, Two Different Bodies

A frequent point of confusion for new founders is treating the ACN and ABN as the same thing. They're not. The Australian Company Number (ACN) is a unique 9-digit identifier issued by ASIC the moment your company is registered — it's your company's legal identifier under the Corporations Act. The Australian Business Number (ABN) is a separate, 11-digit number issued by the Australian Taxation Office through the Australian Business Register, and it isn't automatic — you have to apply for it separately, using your newly issued ACN as part of that application (an ABN is typically the ACN with two additional check digits added to the front). The Business Registration Service lets you request both in one sitting, but they remain two distinct numbers from two distinct government bodies, and you'll use both — the ACN in your company's legal dealings, the ABN for tax, invoicing, and dealing with other businesses.

Ongoing Obligations After Registration

Registering the company starts a compliance calendar, not a one-off task:

• Annual review: each year, on the anniversary of your company's registration, ASIC issues an annual statement. The annual review fee becomes payable, and directors generally need to pass a solvency resolution confirming the company can pay its debts as they fall due — both generally expected within two months of the review date.
• Keeping details current: changes to your registered office, or to who your directors and secretary are, generally need to be notified to ASIC within 28 days.
• Directors' duties: the Corporations Act imposes a standing duty of care and diligence, a duty to act in good faith and for a proper purpose, a duty not to misuse your position or company information, and — critically — a duty to prevent the company from trading while insolvent, which carries both civil and criminal exposure if breached.
• Maintaining a physical presence: the registered office and principal place of business must continue to be maintained in Australia for as long as the company exists, not just at the point of registration.

A Merger That Didn't Happen

For several years, the government planned to merge ASIC's collection of registers with the Australian Business Register into a single system under the Australian Business Registry Services — the "Modernising Business Registers" program. That plan was formally discontinued in 2023 after an independent review found its costs had ballooned far beyond the original estimate. The Australian Business Register remains with the Australian Taxation Office, not folded into ASIC, and ABRS's main ongoing role today is administering Director IDs rather than running a unified company-and-business register. ASIC has since pursued its own, more modest modernization of its existing registers rather than a full merger — worth knowing mainly so you don't go looking for a single combined ASIC/ABR system that, as of today, doesn't exist.

Sources & Further Reading

• Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), s201A (director residency) and Part 2D.1 (directors' duties)
• ASIC — Register a company, company annual review, and current fee schedule (asic.gov.au)
• Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) — Director Identification Number guidance
• Business Registration Service (register.business.gov.au)

Practical Next Steps

Before you apply, confirm that at least one proposed director meets the Australian residency requirement and that every director has applied for their Director ID — both are common early stumbling blocks. Budget for the current registration fee and the recurring annual review fee using the figures published on asic.gov.au at the time you file, not a number from an older guide. Once registered, calendar your annual review date immediately, since the solvency resolution and fee both run on a clock that starts the moment ASIC approves your company. For the general, worldwide picture of how company formation works, see How to Form a Company: A Practical Overview.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Australian company registration fees and requirements are updated periodically — confirm the current position on asic.gov.au and consult an Australian lawyer or accountant before registering.