Regulators have introduced new Director identification requirements which will commence in November 2021 with the aim of allowing regulators to track Directors of failed companies and help identify businesses doing the wrong thing.

The Director ID will be a unique identifier that each Director will keep for their lifetime, ie a person only needs to apply once for a Director ID, no matter how many companies they act for.

You will need to obtain a Director ID if you are a director of a company, including a corporate trustee as well as a charity or NFP that is a company or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island corporation.

For now, Director ID’s will not be searchable by the public but there will be consultation to consider if this will change.

The time frames for these requirements are:

• From 1 November 2021 New Directors must apply within 28 days of appointment.
• From 5 April 2022 New Directors must apply before being appointed.
• Existing Directors have a transitional period and have until 30 November 2022 to apply.
• Future Directors can apply up to 12 months prior.

Failure to apply may result in penalties.

How do you apply:

• Setup your myGovID

This is different from myGov that you may have to link to ATO and Medicare.    myGovID is an app that you download to your phone that acts as an authenticator to prove your identity and allow you to log into government online services

• Gather additional documents

You will need to provide documents to confirm some information that the ATO already knows about you. This might include bank accounts, Notice of assessment, dividend statement etc

• Apply for Director ID

From 1 November you will be able to logon at How to apply for your director ID | Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) and apply.

While we are not able to register on your behalf, Alto can help to explain your requirements and the documents that you need to provide.

Author: Donna Bruce