Director ID and ASIC Companies Register reforms

On 29 June 2026 the Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Bill 2026 (the Bill) passed into law. The Bill is concerned with not only making the ASIC Companies Register easier to use, but also making it harder to misuse by ensuring greater protections are included against unlawful activities such as fraud and illegal phoenix behaviour. 

A cornerstone of the reforms is the linkage of the Director ID - a unique 15-digit identifier that directors keep forever and is used to trace directors across entities over time - to the ASIC Companies Register (the Register). At a high level the Bill also amends the Corporations Act to:

• Enhance ASIC’s ability to enforce the requirement to have Director IDs;
• Enable directors to replace their usual residential address on public ASIC documents and extracts with an alternative address (i.e. a service address), where it is provided to ASIC; and
• Provide ASIC with broad administrative powers to determine the information that appears on the Register and the classes of people who can access different information.

What are the new requirements for directors and companies?

From 1 July 2027:

1. Each director must provide their Director ID to their company, along with other personal details (such as their full name, date and place of birth, residential address, service address and email address) within 7 days of their initial appointment, unless they have previously given that information to the company.
2. Companies and registrable bodies will be required to provide the Director ID of each director to ASIC as part of standard corporate registration and reporting practices, including application for registration, notification of changes to the details of the company or director, and annual reporting.

Consequences of non-compliance

There are significant penalties if directors do not apply for a Director ID or provide it to their company:

• Failure by a director to provide their Director ID on time to their company will be a strict liability offence and may attract an infringement notice or penalty, with a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units (currently $10,920).
• ASIC will now also be able to disqualify directors for up to 3 years for not applying for a Director ID when directed by the Registrar.
• The intent is that ASIC will use these powers where the director has wilfully refused to apply for a Director ID.

Changes to public access to director residential addresses

A further key feature is the ability for directors to nominate an alternative address (i.e. a service address) to be published on publicly available ASIC company documents and extracts in place of their usual residential address. Directors will still be required to provide ASIC their usual residential address for regulatory purposes.

AICD view

These measures in the Bill are broadly  a welcome step forward in modernisation of the Register. Over recent years, the AICD has called strongly for directors’ residential addresses and dates of birth to be removed from the publicly accessible elements of the Register.

AICD has long held concerns that the public availability of director personal information exposes Australian directors and officers to potential privacy, cyber, identity-theft and personal safety risks, and is at odds with contemporary approaches in comparable jurisdictions.

In February 2026, the AICD welcomed interim measures announced by ASIC resulting in the removal of directors’ residential addresses from publicly accessible company searches available through the Register. We understand that these arrangements will remain in place at least until 1 July 2027 when the new laws, including the ability to nominate an alternative service address to replace a residential address, commence.

ASIC discretionary powers

While these reforms will restrict general public access to director residential addresses provided directors nominate an alternative address, ASIC has been granted a broad discretion under the legislation to disclose director residential addresses to specified classes of people if ASIC reasonably believes disclosure is in the public interest, and that the benefits of disclosure outweigh the risks – for example, to insolvency practitioners, liquidators, lawyers and journalists.

In considering what is in the public interest, ASIC must have regard to several specified factors, including protecting consumers from wrongdoing, adverse privacy or safety impacts on individuals or groups of people, whether the information is commercially sensitive information and whether restricting access could prejudice the administration of justice. This includes publishing information such as addresses, dates of birth, places of birth – even email addresses - on Company Searches.  

We understand that ASIC will consult publicly in the second half of 2026 on access arrangements to director personal information on the Register, including the classes of people that will have access to director personal information.

The AICD will be participating in this consultation and continue to prosecute the case that only directors’ names and Director IDs should be disclosed to the general public.

The AICD will also carefully scrutinise the list of groups that get special access to director personal information. The AICD accepts that director information is required to be disclosed to special classes of people for law enforcement and legitimate administrative purposes, such as to liquidators and administrators. However, a clear policy case must be made as to the reasons for disclosure beyond these purposes, particularly in light of personal safety concerns and the evolving digital and cyber threat environment. 

What directors can do now

Although the linkage of Director IDs to the Register will not occur until 1 July 2027, directors should remember that they are already under an obligation to have a Director ID. The AICD encourages any directors who do not currently have a Director ID to obtain one as soon as possible.

Directors should also consider establishing and providing to ASIC an alternative address for service of documents should they wish to replace their residential address on the Register once the new laws come into effect.

The AICD will continue to keep directors informed of developments in this area over coming months.