What the number is
A director ID is given to a director, or someone who intends to become one, after they have verified their identity with the ABRS. It stays the same if you change companies, stop being a director, change your name or move interstate or overseas.
Why it exists
The ABRS says checking every director’s identity helps prevent false or fraudulent director identities, helps external administrators and regulators trace directors’ links with companies over time, and helps stop directors’ involvement in unlawful activity such as illegal phoenix activity. It describes phoenix activity as a company being liquidated, wound up or abandoned to avoid paying its debts, with a new company carrying on the same business without them, leaving employees and suppliers unpaid.
Who needs one
The ABRS’s two lists, side by side.
You need a director ID as a director of
- a company;
- an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation;
- a corporate trustee, for example of a self-managed super fund;
- a charity or not-for-profit that is a company or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation;
- a registered Australian body;
- a foreign company registered with ASIC and carrying on business in Australia.
An alternate director acting in that role needs one too.
You don’t need one if you are
- a company secretary who is not also a director;
- an external administrator of a company;
- a sole trader, or in a partnership;
- given the title “director” at work but never appointed to the role under the CATSI Act or the Corporations Act;
- a director of a registered charity whose organisation type is not registered with ASIC or ORIC to operate Australia-wide;
- an officer of an unincorporated association, a co-operative, or an association incorporated under state or territory law, unless the organisation is a registered Australian body as well;
- someone who was a director before 31 October 2021 but has held no director role on or after 1 December 2022.
To be a director under the Corporations Act at all, you must be an individual at least 18 years old and not disqualified from managing corporations, unless ASIC or a court permits the appointment. Not sure whether an organisation is a company? The ABRS suggests looking it up on ABN Lookup: an ACN in its ASIC registration details means it is a company.
When to apply
If you plan to become a director, you must apply before you are appointed, and you can apply up to 12 months ahead. For a new company that means before it is registered: ASIC’s registration page says directors must apply for a director ID before the company is registered. If you are already a director without one, the ABRS says you must apply straight away.
It is a criminal offence not to apply on time, and ASIC enforces director ID offences under the Corporations Act. The ABRS also says it will be reasonable with directors who are making a genuine effort to comply. If you need more time, there is an application for an extension, which should be made before you apply for the ID itself.
How to apply online
No one can apply for you. A tax, BAS or ASIC agent, or a lawyer, can help you check whether you need an ID, but the application is yours. Online, it runs in three steps.
Set up a Digital ID
Download the myID app and set it up with at least a Standard identity strength, which needs 2 Australian identity documents from a list including a passport, driver’s licence, birth certificate, citizenship certificate, Medicare card, visa or ImmiCard.
Gather your own details
The information has to relate to you personally, not the company. With a Strong myID you need only your individual tax file number or your residential address as the ATO holds it. With a Standard myID you need that address, your TFN if you have it (optional, but it speeds things up), and details from 2 documents such as bank account details the ATO has, an ATO notice of assessment, APRA super fund details or a dividend statement.
Complete the application
Log in to ABRS online with your myID; a 4-digit code shows in your browser, and you enter it in the myID app. The ABRS recommends Chrome or Firefox for the application.
If you can’t get a myID, the ABRS offers other routes. Living in Australia, you can apply by phone, where it verifies your identity with questions, or on a paper form (NAT 75437) with certified copies of your documents. Living overseas, there is a separate paper form (NAT 75433). Never send original documents, as they can’t be returned. The ABRS contact page has the details.
Your obligations
The ABRS lists a director’s obligations: apply within the time that applies to you, apply when the Registrar directs you to, don’t apply for more than one ID unless directed, don’t misrepresent your ID to a Commonwealth body, a company or the other bodies it names, and don’t be involved in a breach of these.
If you were made a director without agreeing
A company must have your written, signed consent before you become a director. If you think you were appointed without it, the ABRS points to ASIC’s advice on non-consenting appointments, and says ASIC will investigate and give you an outcome.
With every director’s ID in hand, the company can be registered: step 2. Then come its rules.