Business leaders would face fines of up to $40,000 for not listing their Director ID when required, and penalties of up to $20,000 for failing to provide updated email addresses, under draft legislation put forward by the federal government.
The Treasury on Friday released an exposure draft for the Treasury Laws Amendment (Business
Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Bill 2025, as part of its plan to strengthen the ageing digital systems containing company and business registration information.
Central to that plan is linking the Director ID system — which attaches unique, lifelong identifying numbers to company directors — and the Companies Register.
The Director ID regime is designed to increase corporate transparency, making it easier to track directors between companies while preventing illegal phoenixing and identity fraud.
Since its introduction in 2021, Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS), managed by the Australian Taxation Office, has administered three million Director IDs.
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But a Treasury background paper says linking those Director IDs to the Companies Register, administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), is required “to realise the full benefits of the Director ID regime”.
The draft legislation proposes a full linking system rollout from July 1, 2027.
From that point, companies must share relevant Director IDs with ASIC whenever those details change, or at the time of their annual review.
Under the draft legislation, failing to provide those Director IDs within 28 days of a relevant update, or two weeks of an annual review date, will be an offense punishable by a maximum fine of 120 penalty units — currently equivalent to $39,600.
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Companies and company officers will be required to provide ASIC with their email addresses, in addition to the postal addresses used for official communications and notices today.
Those companies must inform ASIC of changes to their official email address within 28 days of the change, ensuring the regulator’s details are up to date.
Failure to comply will result in a strict liability offense, punishable by up to 60 penalty units, or $19,800.
Penalty units will be indexed in July 2026, meaning the final dollar value of those penalties could be even greater when the planned Director ID linking system comes into effect.
The draft legislation also proposes new regulatory powers for ASIC, giving it authority to disqualify directors who have not complied with their obligations to obtain a Director ID.
ASIC would also gain the ability to publish Director ID details, ‘name and shame’ companies whose directors do not hold a Director ID, and remove companies from the register if they are found to have produced misleading information.
Additionally, the corporate regulator would gain powers to “publish information provided by other agencies if ASIC believes the benefit outweighs any risks and is in the public interest”.
The Treasury is also consulting on plans to integrate beneficial ownership information — data on who ultimately owns or controls a company, trust or partnership — with the Companies Register, ahead of its plans for a new publicly available beneficial ownership register in 2028.
Consultation closes on February 10, 2026. Stakeholders interested in participating in consultation meetings or roundtables can contact the Treasury by January 23 next year.
