There are residency requirements for Australian company officers. Acclime will appoint an experienced and Australian-based Resident Director, Company Secretary and Resident Public Officer to expertly manage your compliance, legislative and regulatory requirements.
Leverage our years of experience in the market to achieve compliance for your business. No matter your company’s size, we can support and guide you in protecting your business interests.
Our appointees always have the best interests of your company at heart, and understand clearly that they are merely representatives of the shareholders when liaising with regulatory authorities.
Our appointees are experts on the Australian corporate, legal, and financial landscape, and so are well placed to offer advice on governance and compliance.
It is a requirement that a company director be resident in Australia. Acclime specialises in providing expert appointees to fill the position for foreign companies transitioning to Australia and not ready to establish a high-level presence locally.
This appointee will provide services that are required to be performed by a local director, including:
This appointee will provide a complete range of corporate governance and compliance services, including:
This appointee will act as liaison with the ATO in:
According to the Corporations Act 2001, all companies in Australia, both public (ending with “Ltd” or “Limited”) or private (ending in “Pty Ltd”) require one or more directors who “ordinarily reside” in Australia.
Private Companies require a minimum of one director, including at least one who must be a Resident Director (s201A(1)). There is no requirement for a Company Secretary in a private company, though if one has been appointed, they must also be a resident of Australia (s204A(1)).
Public Companies require a minimum of three directors, two of whom must ordinarily reside in Australia (s201A(2)). Public companies are also required to appoint at least one Company Secretary who must reside in Australia (s204A(2)).
The law does not allow you to a director of a company (without court consent) if:
Yes, a foreign tax resident can be a director of an Australian company provided that they fulfil all the eligibility requirements for directorship, and that the company also has a resident director appointed.
If a company does not have the requisite number of resident directors, it will be in breach of the Corporations Act 2001. This could result in the company paying penalties or being prosecuted for not meeting its statutory obligations.
From on 1 November 2021, new legislation mandates that all company directors must apply for and hold a valid ‘Director Identification Number’— otherwise known as a Director ID.
Company directors are required by law to apply for a director identification number (director ID).
A director ID is a unique identifier that a director will apply for once and keep forever – which will help prevent the use of false or fraudulent director identities.
All directors of a company, registered Australian body, registered foreign company or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation will need a director ID.
When you must apply depends on when you were appointed as a director:
Shareholders, employees, creditors, consumers, external administrators and regulators are entitled to know the names and certain details of the directors of a company.
All directors are required by law to verify their identity with us before receiving a director ID. This is important because it will help to:
Illegal phoenix activity is when a company is liquidated, wound up or abandoned to avoid paying its debts. A new company is then started to continue the same business activities without the debt. When this happens:
Blair Lucas, Acclime Partner
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