Corporations Act director on or before 31 October? Apply for your director identification number by 30 November 2022

NOTE: This article was update on October 4 to reflect regulator guidance.

The director identification number (director ID) regime commenced on 1 November 2021, with all directors and alternate directors of Australian companies (including companies acting as trustees of self-managed super funds (SMSF)), registered Australian body corporates, registered foreign companies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations required to verify their identity and obtain a director ID via the Australian Business Registry Services website.

The regime is a key part of the Modernising Business Registers (MBR) Program, which unifies the Australian Business Register and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) registers onto a single platform.

30 November 2022 deadline for Corporations Act directors

Directors and alternate directors of companies, registered Australian bodies or registered foreign companies under the Corporations Act who were appointed a director on or after 1 November 2021 have until 30 November 2022 to apply for a director ID.

This includes:

• directors and alternate directors of companies who act as trustees of SMSFs (where corporate trustees are relatively common); and
• any director who was a director or alternate director on or before 31 October 2021 and remains so appointed on or after 1 November 2021. This is the case whether or not the company is in external administration, whether or not the person has subsequently resigned as a director or if the company in which they were a director is being voluntarily deregistered.