Transitional period for existing company directors is ending soon

In brief - Are you an existing director? To meet your obligations as a director, you must apply for a Director Identification Number by 30 November 2022

A director who was appointed on or before 31 October 2021 to a company regulated by ASIC and registered under the Corporations Act 2001 has only until 30 November 2022 to apply for a Director Identification Number (DIN). 

You can read more about the regime in our recent article, One centralised business information register and director identification numbers.

This is a personal responsibility of individual directors and individually they will face potential civil and criminal penalties and may be issued with an infringement notice, if they do not comply. 

The maximum monetary penalty for a failure to have a DIN when required to do so is $1,100,000 (civil penalty provision for individuals): see s 1272C. 

Individual directors will need to make their own applications initially through the myGovID app (and then through here – ultimately, go to the bottom of the webpage and use the "Apply now" tab) after gathering up the necessary identification documents that are listed on the web page. 

Information in simplified Chinese here: Simplified Chinese language home page | Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS). 

Directors who reside overseas can apply for a DIN but will need to provide certified copies of their ID documents: see further here: Apply for your director ID | Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS).This is a manual process and requires certification of personal identification. It will take time (often weeks, not days).