ASIC Form 484: Lodging Changes for Company Clients

ASIC Form 484 notifies ASIC of changes to a company’s addresses, officeholders and shares. Lodge most changes within 28 days of the change. For a client appointing a director and moving offices, prepare both changes together and keep their dates separate.

What Form 484 is and When It is Due

Form 484 is the change-to-company-details transaction for an existing company. It covers most routine address, director and secretary changes, along with share information and ultimate holding company details.

ASIC’s Form 484 guidance gives a 28-day lodging period after the date of change. The clock starts when the event happens. Receiving the client’s instructions later does not restart it. Put each event’s date and deadline in the job before preparing the transaction.

There is no ordinary lodgement fee for Form 484. A late fee applies when ASIC receives an overdue change. ASIC uses separate fee bands for up to one month late and more than one month late. These periods run after the original due date. The company is charged the fee, and its officeholders remain responsible for timely lodgement when a registered agent handles it.

The ASIC late-fee rules also allow separate charges for missed obligations. Leaving an old change until the annual statement arrives can create another late-review fee. Budget from the company’s ASIC invoice and current fee schedule, and distinguish your practice’s charge from ASIC’s charge. The annual review and ASIC fees guide covers that separate annual obligation.

Which Part of Form 484 to Complete

Select the transaction sections for the changes that actually occurred. A transfer of existing shares changes membership details. Issuing additional shares also changes the company’s share structure.

Change	Transaction section	Common example	Records to match
Registered office or principal place of business	Change of address	The company moves to another office	Full physical address, change date and occupier consent where needed
Officeholder’s residential address	Change of address for the officeholder	A director moves home	Director’s instructions and new residential address
Officeholder appointment or cessation	Appoint or cease officeholder	A new director joins and another resigns	Appointment record, consent or resignation notice
Officeholder’s name	Change of name	A secretary changes their legal name	Current and former name details
Shares issued or cancelled	Change to share structure	New shares are issued to a family member	Class, number, paid and unpaid amounts and supporting approvals
Member or shareholding changes	Change to members register	An existing member transfers shares	Company member register and transfer records
Ultimate holding company	Ultimate holding company details	A corporate group changes its ultimate parent	Holding company identity and effective date

Update the company’s own records as well as ASIC’s register. For a proprietary company with more than 20 members in a share class, ASIC’s notification rules focus on the top 20. Do not assume that the public register lists every member. ASIC’s share and shareholder guidance separates the events and reporting requirements.

One transaction can contain several changes. Keep the date for each event instead of using the day you prepare the form for every entry.

A Worked Company Change

In this fictional example, a proprietary company appoints an additional Australian resident director on day 1. Another director resigns on day 6. The company moves its principal place of business on day 9 and lodges all changes on day 12.

The practice records three event dates in one change-to-company-details transaction. All events are inside their own 28-day windows. The new director’s appointment precedes the resignation, so the company retains a resident director throughout. If the registered office also changes, its effective date follows the registered-office rule below.

Appointing Directors and Recording Resignations

Before notifying an appointment, obtain the person’s signed consent to act and the company’s appointment record. Confirm that the appointment follows the company’s constitution or applicable rules. Collect the full name, former names where relevant, date and place of birth, residential address and appointment date.

The incoming director must apply for a director ID before appointment. The director applies personally through Australian Business Registry Services. Keep their director ID with the appointment information. The director ID guide explains that separate application.

ASIC’s director ID guidance says that director IDs are not currently entered when changing director details. Its reporting requirements change when the new provisions commence. Follow the linked commencement details when deciding whether a later appointment requires ASIC reporting.

For a resignation, obtain the written notice given to the company and enter the cessation date in Form 484. A departing officeholder can instead use Form 370, with a copy of their resignation letter. The departing officeholder signs it. Once that notice is lodged, the company does not need a duplicate cessation notification.

A director’s cessation reported more than 28 days after resignation is generally recorded as the lodgement date. Correcting the earlier date requires the applicable ASIC or court procedure. Do not replace the original event date just to make an overdue change look timely.

Under section 201A of the Corporations Act, a proprietary company must retain at least one director ordinarily resident in Australia. A resignation cannot leave the company without a director. Check residency separately when another director remains. ASIC can reject a transaction that ceases the last director.

Secretary appointments also need written consent. Record a secretary’s appointment or cessation under the correct role, even when the person also holds a directorship. For an alternate director, keep the written appointment and its terms. Identify the appointing director and any agreed end date. Notify relevant changes within 28 days.

ASIC Change of Address, Including the Registered Office

Select the particular address record that changes. The registered office receives formal communications and notices. The principal place of business records where the company mainly operates. A director’s home address is a separate officeholder record.

For a registered office, enter a physical address and confirm whether the company occupies the premises. If it does not, obtain the occupier’s written consent and retain it with the company records. Moving your practice does not itself authorise changing every client’s registered office to your new premises.

A registered office change takes effect seven days after lodgement, or on a later date specified in the notice. Section 142 sets that timing. ASIC’s address-change instructions explain the portal entries and consent questions. Keep the previous office able to receive notices until the new address takes effect.

Update the relevant addresses as soon as the change occurs, before the next annual statement. Also confirm the company’s contact address and where ASIC correspondence goes. A registered agent’s address can be the contact address without being the registered office.

Review the client’s ATO and Australian Business Register addresses separately. Updating ASIC does not complete every tax-contact update. That separate check helps prevent tax notices going to an address the client has left.

Company Name Changes and Other ASIC Forms

A company name change uses Form 205, not Form 484. Members pass a special resolution to change the name. Lodge the notification and resolution, and pay the applicable fee, within 14 days. ASIC’s instructions for changing a company’s name explain the application and resulting certificate.

Form 205 is Notification of resolution. It also covers specified resolutions about company type and other matters. A type change can require Form 206 as well. Apply the deadline for the particular resolution instead of treating every Form 205 purpose as identical.

Change or event	Form	Lodgement timing	Signing or authorising party
Routine company address, officeholder or share details	484 Change to company details	Usually within 28 days of the change	Company officeholder authorises, or registered agent lodges with authority
Special resolution changing company name	205 Notification of resolution, name-change transaction	Within 14 days of the resolution	Company officeholder, with the resolution supplied
Officeholder’s own resignation notice	370 Notification by officeholder of resignation or retirement	Lodge promptly and within 28 days to preserve a director’s stated cessation date	Departing officeholder
Required stamp-duty certification for a written share-issue contract	207Z Certification of compliance with stamp duty law	With the relevant share-issue notification	Company officeholder
Division of previously undivided shares into classes or conversion between classes	211 Notification of division or conversion of classes of shares	Within 14 days	Company officeholder
Company appoints or ceases a registered agent	362 Notification by a company to nominate or cease a registered agent or contact address	No prescribed lodging period on ASIC’s form page	Current company officeholder
External administrator appointment or cessation	505 Notification of appointment or cessation of an external administrator	Appointment-specific rules apply	Relevant external administrator or controller

Form 207Z certifies compliance with applicable stamp duty law for the share-issue contract. It is not a general share-transfer form. Form 211 covers the stated class changes. Form 2205 separately notifies specified resolutions regarding shares. A public company’s non-cash share issue can also require Form 208.

Form 362 concerns the agent appointment. Its combined form includes Form 486 for a contact address. Neither replaces Form 484 for a registered office change. Your ASIC registered agent appointment must be in place for the practice to act for the company.

Form 505 belongs to external administration. Form 506 is Notification of change of address of an external administrator or controller or scheme administrator. These forms concern the appointed specialist’s role and address, rather than an ordinary company office move. Refer that work to the practitioner handling the appointment.

How to Lodge Form 484

Use the registered agent portal when your practice has authority to lodge for the company. A company officeholder can use the company officeholder portal after obtaining access with the corporate key. Company secretarial software connected to ASIC is another electronic route.

The standard Form 484 transaction is online. A downloaded historical Form 484 PDF is not a current general paper-lodgement route. If an online transaction cannot be lodged, use ASIC’s Form 484 instructions to contact ASIC for the permitted alternative. Keep any specific instructions with the file.

1. Confirm the company identity and your authority. Match the ACN to the current company record and confirm the practice’s agent appointment.
2. Gather the evidence for each change. Retain signed consents, appointment records, resignation letters, address permissions and relevant share records.
3. Prepare the transaction. Select Change to company details, then the sections that apply. Enter each event’s actual date and the required details.
4. Obtain the company officeholder’s approval. Keep the authorised form or declaration required by ASIC’s Electronic Lodgement Protocol with the client’s written instructions.
5. Submit and save the acknowledgement. Record its document number and status. Deal with a rejection immediately, because preparing or attempting a form does not establish lodgement.
6. Check the recorded result. View company details in the portal and compare the changed fields with the approved instructions. Save the confirmation with the job.

A fresh company extract can confirm public company information after processing. ASIC’s register guidance says officeholder addresses are no longer included in extracts. Check those details through the authorised company record. For a registered office change, allow for its effective-date rule before treating the move as complete.

Changes to Catch When Onboarding a Company Client

Compare the client’s form with the company extract and the authorised company records before taking over the company-secretarial work. Treat each difference as an item to resolve. A discrepancy might be an unlodged change, an incorrect answer or an earlier registry error.

For each confirmed change, record the original event date, evidence, responsible person and due date. Ask for the documents behind it. A client saying that shares changed hands does not establish the transfer date or the resulting member register.

Raise overdue changes before agreeing who will lodge them. Explain the company’s possible late fees, any resignation-date consequence and the separate charge for your work. Identify outstanding documents and agree a corrective action. Appointing your practice as agent does not erase an earlier missed deadline.

Tax Genie checks company identifiers and director IDs as the client completes the guided form. Its rule-based checks and AI review return fixable issues to the client, giving your practice corrected details for comparison. Match those answers against ASIC’s records and the appointment or share documents. Then lodge the confirmed changes and close each item only after the recorded result matches the authorised instruction.