Australia Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify an Australian Business

TL;DR. Australia has two primary registries for business verification: ASIC Connect for companies incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001, and the Australian Business Register (ABR) for all ABN holders including sole traders and partnerships. ABN searches are free. ASIC company extracts cost AUD 9 to AUD 43 (approximately USD 5.90 to USD 28.00). No Australian identity is required. The interface is in English, and a free ABN web service API is available for ABN validation.

What is the official Australia business registry?

Australia has two distinct registry systems that serve different verification needs.

ASIC Connect is operated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) under the Corporations Act 2001. It is the authoritative registry for companies (proprietary limited, public companies, no-liability companies), registered schemes, and deregistered entities. The ASIC Connect portal at connectonline.asic.gov.au replaced the earlier ASIC Online system and provides company searches, officer searches, and document purchases. Every Australian company is assigned an Australian Company Number (ACN) at incorporation, a 9-digit identifier unique to the entity.

Australian Business Register (ABR) is operated by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999. It registers all entities that are required to hold an Australian Business Number (ABN), including companies, sole traders, partnerships, trusts, and superannuation funds. The public search interface is ABN Lookup at abr.business.gov.au. ABN searches are free. For a company, the ACN and ABN are distinct identifiers; the ABN is derived from the ACN by prepending two check digits.

Foreign compliance buyers conducting entity verification typically start with the ABN Lookup for a free status check, then move to ASIC Connect for the authoritative incorporation record and director/officeholder details.

What can you search?

ASIC Connect supports:

• Company name (partial match supported, returns ranked list)
• ACN (exact match, returns company record)
• ABN (exact match, returns company record if the entity is ASIC-registered)
• Officer name (directors, secretaries, and officeholders)
• Document searches (find lodged forms by type or date range)

Data returned per company record includes: registered name, ACN, ABN, entity type (proprietary limited, public, etc.), registration date, status (registered, deregistered, external administration), registered office address, principal place of business, annual review date, and list of current and former officeholders (name and role; residential addresses are suppressed for individuals who have opted for address suppression).

Paid document downloads include:

• Current company extract (full officer list, share structure, charge details)
• Historical company extracts
• Copies of lodged forms (Form 484 for changes, Form 388 for annual returns, financial statements for public companies)
• Copies of charges (PPSR-adjacent charge registrations held by ASIC)

ABN Lookup returns: ABN, entity name, trading name(s), entity type, ABN status (active or cancelled), GST registration status, main business location (state only, not full address), and the ANZSIC industry code. Full address is not public on ABR; only the state is disclosed. ABN searches are free and require no account.

How much does it cost?

Prices are as of May 2026 per ASIC published fee schedule. AUD/USD conversion used: 0.653 (approximate; verify at point of purchase). Payment by credit or debit card; no Australian bank account required.

There is no subscription model for ad-hoc public searches. Bulk data access is available separately through ASIC’s data licensing programme.

Do you need a local account or ID?

No Australian identity document or entity account is required for ASIC Connect searches or purchases. A guest checkout path allows document purchases using any international credit card and an email address for receipt delivery.

For ABN Lookup, no account at all is required. Searches are fully open to the public.

Registered ASIC Connect accounts unlock additional features (saved search history, bulk order management), but are not required for one-off lookups. No Australian Business Number, Tax File Number, or government-issued credential is needed at any stage.

Is the website in English?

Yes. Both ASIC Connect and ABN Lookup are fully in English. All search results, entity status labels, form names, and downloaded documents are in English. Australia’s Corporations Act 2001 requires all lodged documents to be in English, so there is no issue with non-English filings appearing in the public record.

What’s the turnaround time?

Document download is instant once payment clears. ASIC generates company extracts on demand; they are not pre-cached, but generation typically completes within a few seconds of the purchase being confirmed.

For certified copies (with ASIC’s official seal), the turnaround is also instant for electronic certified copies delivered via the portal. Physical certified copies, if specifically required by a counterparty, require a separate request and standard post delivery.

Is there an API?

Yes, for ABN data. The ABR provides a free ABN Lookup Web Service that allows external systems to validate ABNs and retrieve entity details in real time. Documentation and registration are at data.gov.au. The web service supports SOAP and JSON responses and is used widely for form pre-fill and database validation in Australian business applications.

ASIC does not offer a public real-time API for company searches as of May 2026. ASIC does publish bulk data extracts under a commercial data licensing agreement, suitable for platforms that need to mirror the full ASIC register. Contact ASIC’s data licensing team for terms.

For compliance platforms needing automated Australian company verification, the ABR web service covers ABN validation and basic entity status at no cost. For full director and share structure data, the options are ASIC Connect manual downloads or a licensed data provider.

What you legally cannot do

ASIC’s Terms of Use and the Corporations Act 2001 restrict:

• Systematic bulk scraping of ASIC Connect or ABR public interfaces
• Redistributing ASIC company extract data commercially without a data licensing agreement with ASIC
• Representing a company extract as “certified” unless it carries ASIC’s electronic seal
• Using officer name data for unsolicited marketing or cold outreach

The Privacy Act 1988 applies to personal information about individuals extracted from the register, including director addresses where those are disclosed. Using director personal information for purposes other than the stated reason for the search may breach privacy obligations.

Compliance buyers conducting counterparty due diligence, AML/CTF checks, or KYC for their own business purposes are within the intended use case for both ASIC Connect and ABR.

Practical tips for foreign users

• Start with ABN Lookup. It is free, instant, and confirms whether the entity has an active ABN and GST registration. If ABN status is “cancelled,” that is a strong indicator the business is no longer trading.
• ACN vs. ABN. Companies have both. Sole traders and partnerships have an ABN but no ACN. If you are verifying a company, check ASIC Connect (using ACN) for the full officer and share structure. ABN Lookup alone does not show directors.
• Proprietary limited companies (Pty Ltd) are the most common structure for small and mid-size Australian businesses. They are not required to publish audited financial statements unless they are a “large proprietary company” (two of three thresholds: revenue AUD 50M+, assets AUD 25M+, or 100+ employees) or part of a consolidated group. Most Pty Ltd companies do not file public financials.
• External administration. If a company is in voluntary administration, receivership, or liquidation, ASIC Connect shows the administrator’s name and appointment date. This is often the first place to confirm insolvency status before a credit decision.
• Address suppression. Individual directors can apply to suppress their residential address from the public record under Section 205A of the Corporations Act. If suppressed, the extract shows “address withheld.” The registered office address of the company itself remains public.
• Trust structures. Australian trusts are not registered on ASIC (unless they are a registered managed investment scheme). A company acting as a trustee appears on ASIC with its own name; the trust name appears only in the company’s constitution or a trust deed, which is not publicly filed. Ask the counterparty directly for trust deed disclosure if counterparty control is a concern.
• PPSR check. The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) at ppsr.gov.au is separate from ASIC and records security interests over moveable assets. A PPSR search on the company’s ACN reveals whether lenders hold registered security interests. PPSR is an additional search, not part of the ASIC Connect extract, and costs AUD 2.00 per search.

Alternatives if you cannot access ASIC Connect directly

• ABN Lookup (abr.business.gov.au). Free, no account needed, instant. Covers all ABN-registered entities. Use as the first-pass check; move to ASIC Connect for director and share structure detail.
• Aggregator search (free, indicative). OpenCorporates indexes Australian company data sourced from ASIC. Lags official data; useful for a quick name match, not for compliance-grade verification.

Local data suppliers

If you need a packaged report rather than a raw ASIC extract, Australia has an established set of commercial credit and data providers:

• Equifax Australia (equifax.com.au). One of three licensed credit reporting bodies in Australia under the Privacy Act 1988. Provides commercial credit reports, financial viability ratings, payment behaviour data, and director/PPSR enrichment. Offers “Financial Viability & Ratings” and “IQ Connect” for business-level risk assessment. Use when you need a scored credit risk view on an Australian counterparty, especially in supplier onboarding or trade credit decisions.

• Experian Australia (experian.com.au). The second major credit reporting body in Australia. Note: illion.com.au now redirects to experian.com.au following Experian’s acquisition of illion. Experian Australia provides commercial credit information on companies across Australia and New Zealand, including financial health assessments, account management, and fraud prevention. Use for credit decisioning where a bureau-grade report with bureau-sourced payment data is required.

• CreditorWatch (creditorwatch.com.au). A commercial credit reporting and risk management platform used by Australia Post, Toll Group, and other large Australian businesses. Offers the Business Risk Index as an economic risk indicator, real-time credit alerts, payment trend data, and automated debt recovery tools. Useful for ongoing monitoring of a portfolio of Australian counterparties rather than a one-off lookup. Provides an “Onboard” workflow for credit approval automation.

Use ASIC Connect for the authoritative legal filing record. Use a credit bureau (Equifax or Experian Australia) when you need payment history and credit scoring. Use CreditorWatch when you want real-time monitoring or automated credit approval decisions across a portfolio of Australian entities.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access Australia’s ASIC company registry?

Yes. ASIC Connect is open to international users without an Australian account or identity document. Company name and ACN searches are free. Document purchases require a credit card and an email address. No Australian Business Number, Tax File Number, or government-issued credential is required. ABN Lookup is also fully open to international users at no cost.

What is an ACN and how is it different from an ABN?

An Australian Company Number (ACN) is the 9-digit identifier assigned by ASIC when a company is incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001. An Australian Business Number (ABN) is the 11-digit identifier issued by the ATO for tax purposes. For companies, the ABN is derived from the ACN: ASIC forwards the ACN to the ATO, which generates the ABN by adding two check digits. A sole trader has an ABN but no ACN. Always verify that the entity you are looking up is a company (has an ACN) before relying on ASIC Connect for the authoritative record.

Do Australian private companies file public financial statements?

Most proprietary limited (Pty Ltd) companies do not file public financials. The exception is “large proprietary companies,” which must file audited financial statements with ASIC if they meet two of three thresholds: annual revenue exceeding AUD 50 million, assets exceeding AUD 25 million, or more than 100 employees. Public companies and listed companies file annual reports and half-year reports publicly. For the majority of private counterparties, the ASIC extract will not include financial data; you will need to request accounts directly from the counterparty or use a credit bureau report.

Is Australia on FATF’s grey list?

No. Australia is a FATF member and maintains an active mutual evaluation record. Australia’s third mutual evaluation by FATF, published in 2015, assessed its AML/CTF framework. FATF’s ongoing monitoring notes Australia’s Tranche 2 AML reforms, which extend AML/CTF obligations to lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents. Australia is not on the FATF grey list or blacklist as of May 2026. The OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information also rates Australia as “largely compliant” on international tax transparency standards.

What is the Australian Business Register and when should I use it instead of ASIC?

The ABR covers all entities with an ABN: companies, sole traders, partnerships, trusts, and non-profit entities. It is the right place to start when you do not know whether the entity is a company or another business structure. ABN Lookup confirms ABN validity, entity type, GST registration, and state of operation at no cost. Once you confirm the entity is a company (entity type shows “Australian Private Company” or “Australian Public Company”), move to ASIC Connect for the full officer and share structure. For non-company entities (trusts, sole traders), ASIC Connect will not have a record; ABN Lookup is the only public registry source.

How do I check if an Australian company is in financial distress?

The fastest public check is the ASIC Connect company extract, which shows if the company is under external administration (voluntary administration, receivership, or liquidation). ASIC also publishes insolvency notices on its website at asic.gov.au. For a forward-looking risk indicator, CreditorWatch’s Business Risk Index and Equifax’s Financial Viability Rating provide scored risk assessments. PPSR registration at ppsr.gov.au shows whether lenders have registered security interests over the company’s assets, which is an indirect indicator of leverage.

Can I verify a business name in Australia?

Business names in Australia are registered with ASIC (not the ABR). A business name is a trading name used by a sole trader, company, or partnership that is different from their legal name. ASIC Connect includes a business name register search alongside the company register. A business name registration does not create a separate legal entity; the underlying entity (usually a sole trader or company) remains the legal counterparty. Always verify the ABN or ACN of the underlying entity, not just the registered business name.

Last verified: May 2026. Sources: Australian Securities and Investments Commission ASIC Connect (connectonline.asic.gov.au), Australian Business Register ABR (abr.business.gov.au), FATF (fatf-gafi.org), OECD Global Forum on Transparency (oecd.org/tax/transparency).