Australia
In Australia, the company registry is ASIC’s Companies Register, and its basic company search is free.
- Official company register
- ASIC Companies Register (ASIC Connect / ASIC company search)
- Free online search
- Partial
- Company identifier
- ACN, 9 digits (e.g. 123 456 789); ABN, 11 digits, for companies usually the ACN with a two-digit prefix (e.g. 36 123 456 789).
- Who can see beneficial owners
- No central register
- Data access for developers
- Free API
- Company search
- service.asic.gov.au
- Checked on
Search Australian companies on ASIC’s company search, where name, ACN, status and registered office location are free. A current company extract, listing directors, secretaries, share structure and members, costs $10 on ASIC’s fee page (an older help page still shows $9). There is no beneficial ownership register; Treasury plans a public register for unlisted companies, with policy development starting in early 2027. Companies are identified by the 9-digit ACN and the 11-digit ABN.
- Region
- Asia-Pacific
- Run by
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
- Registry website
- asic.gov.au
- Visible for free
- Company name, type, ACN/ABN/ARBN/ARSN, registration date, next review date, suburb, state and postcode of the registered office, and list of documents lodged.
- Paid documents and fees
- Current company extract $10; current and historical company extract $20; roles and relationship extract $23; certificate of registration $23; document copy $20 (under 10 pages) or $50 (10 pages or more), with $43 and $73 variants also listed (AUD). These are the amounts on ASIC's registers fee page; an older ASIC Connect help page still shows $9 and $18 extracts and $18 and $36 document copies.
- Beneficial ownership register
- None (planned public Commonwealth beneficial ownership register for unlisted companies)
- Beneficial ownership access in detail
- Australia has no beneficial ownership register. Treasury announced on 15 October 2025 that it will proceed directly to a public, Commonwealth-operated register for unlisted companies, with policy development scheduled to begin in early 2027.
- Beneficial ownership register website
- ministers.treasury.gov.au
- API or data service
- https://abr.business.gov.au/Tools/WebServices (ABN Lookup web services, free, GUID registration required); ASIC Company Dataset bulk download at https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/asic-companies
- Search interface languages
- English
- What an official extract contains
- Current company extract: organization details (name, ACN, ABN, status, type and class, registration date), registered office, principal place of business and contact address, directors and secretaries with appointment dates, external administrators, appointed auditor, ultimate holding company, share structure, members (top twenty for proprietary companies), financial reports, pre-2012 charges, documents lodged and annual return document list.
- What to know before a KYB check
- ASIC extracts no longer show officeholder addresses (ASIC cites privacy and identity-theft concerns), so residential addresses must be verified from other sources. Security interests registered since 30 January 2012 are on the PPSR, not the ASIC extract.
- Sources
Page URL ASIC – Search ASIC registers https://asic.gov.au/online-services/search-asic-s-registers/ ASIC – Company and organisation registers (free data and fees) https://www.asic.gov.au/online-services/search-asic-registers/company-and-organisation-registers ASIC Connect – Fees and examples of paid products https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/OPH/HelpLandingPages/TH_PurchasingSearchItems/SCH_TH_FEES_PAID_PRODUCTS ASIC – Australian Company Number (ACN) https://www.asic.gov.au/for-business-and-companies/companies/register-a-company/australian-company-number-acn ASIC – Guide to reading company extracts (PDF, 13 Mar 2026) https://download.asic.gov.au/media/trcclasp/user-guide_guide-to-reading-asic-company-extracts-20260313.pdf ABR – ABN Lookup web services https://abr.business.gov.au/Tools/WebServices Treasury Ministers – Improving transparency of the true owners of companies (15 Oct 2025) https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/andrew-leigh-2025/media-releases/improving-transparency-true-owners-companies - Verification
- All fields verified
Questions
How do I search a company in Australia?
Use ASIC’s company search: the company name, ACN, status and registered office location are shown free.
How much is an ASIC company extract?
A current company extract costs $10 on ASIC’s fee page and lists directors, secretaries, share structure and members.
Does Australia have a beneficial ownership register?
No. Treasury plans a public register for unlisted companies, with policy development starting in early 2027.
What is the difference between an ACN and an ABN?
The ACN has 9 digits; a company’s 11-digit ABN is usually the ACN with a two-digit prefix.
Sources: each listing is compiled from the registry’s own website, the government body that runs it, official fee schedules and legislation, and the EU e-Justice portal. Every source is linked on the listing with the date it was checked. How we compile this reference