Director ID Application for a Company Client

A director ID belongs to the person, and your client retrieves it from Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS). If they have never applied, they must apply themselves. Your practice collects the number and matches their details across the companies they direct.

What a Director ID is and Who Needs One

A director identification number is a unique, 15-digit identifier that a director keeps for life. Changing companies, leaving a board or changing their name does not mean they need another number. It starts with 036, as explained in ABRS’s director ID guide.

Directors of companies registered under the Corporations Act need one. That includes directors of a company acting as trustee for a family trust or self-managed super fund. The obligation also covers directors of registered Australian bodies and registered foreign companies, and directors of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations.

An alternate director acting in that role needs a director ID. A company secretary who is not also a director does not. An individual trustee does not need one merely because they are a trustee. Check the person’s appointed role before adding the request to their form.

A proposed director must apply before appointment. Existing directors without an ID must apply now. ABRS’s eligibility and timing rules explain the categories and earlier transitional arrangements.

For Corporations Act directors, section 1272C creates the duty to have a director ID. It contains exceptions, including a timely application still awaiting a decision. A breach can lead to criminal prosecution or civil penalty proceedings. ASIC’s offence table lists a maximum criminal penalty of 60 penalty units for failing to have an ID when required. The civil penalty provision is section 1272C(5) of the Corporations Act.

How to Find an Existing Director ID

The director can retrieve their number from ABRS or their original notification. There is no public director ID search. The number is not available through the ASIC companies register or ABN Lookup, so your practice must ask the director for it.

Ask the director to follow the route that matches their original application.

1. If they applied online, sign in to ABRS with myID at Standard identity strength or higher. The number appears on the Home screen. They can download a PDF copy of their director ID details.
2. If they applied by phone or paper, look in their myGov Inbox when their myGov account is linked to the ATO. Otherwise, check the notification letter sent to their postal address.
3. If they cannot access the notification, use myID to sign in to ABRS or contact ABRS for a copy. ABRS establishes their identity before discussing the record.

The ABRS retrieval instructions cover each route. A saved on-screen confirmation or downloaded copy can also help the director locate the number.

Do not send an existing director back through a fresh application just because they cannot find their number. Each person keeps one director ID. Knowingly applying for another is an offence unless the Registrar directs them to apply again. Retrieval avoids a duplicate application and returns the number your practice needs.

How to Apply for a Director ID

The director applies personally through ABRS, online where possible or through the phone or paper route that fits their circumstances. Your practice can explain the steps and help them gather information. A tax agent or ASIC registered agent cannot apply on their behalf.

Apply Online With myID

The online route requires myID with at least Standard identity strength. myID is the current name of myGovID, and it is separate from a myGov account.

1. Set up myID on a smart device with a personal email address, using the official myID setup instructions. Confirm the app shows Standard or Strong identity strength before continuing.
2. Gather the personal details ABRS requests. With Standard strength, these include the ATO-held residential address and information from two accepted records. A TFN is optional. With Strong strength, ABRS’s application page says only the individual TFN or ATO-held residential address is needed.
3. Open the ABRS director ID application and sign in with myID. Enter the code displayed by the service in the myID app.
4. Complete the identity questions, choose the director ID application and submit the declarations. When the application succeeds, the director ID appears on screen. Save the confirmation for company records.

Accepted records for the Standard route include an ATO notice of assessment, eligible bank details or an APRA-regulated super account. SMSF account details are not accepted. These are the director’s personal records, not the company’s records. The director supplies them directly to ABRS.

Apply by Phone or Paper

If the director lives in Australia and cannot set up myID, they can phone ABRS on 13 62 50. The ABRS contact page lists hours of 8 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, excluding applicable public holidays. From overseas, its general enquiry number is +61 2 6216 3440.

For a phone application, the director needs their ATO-held address and answers to identity questions. They also need an accepted primary Australian identity document and a secondary document. If ABRS cannot issue an ID by phone, it sends a paper application. Australian paper applicants need certified copies in one of ABRS’s specified document combinations.

A director living overseas who cannot apply online uses the paper form for people living outside Australia. They attach certified copies of either two primary documents or one primary and one secondary document. An authorised overseas certifier, such as a notary public or eligible Australian diplomatic staff member, must sight the originals and certify the copies.

Non-English documents also need an approved translation. Follow ABRS’s certification instructions and post the application to the address on the form. Send copies, not original identity documents.

Online applications can return the number on screen once the identity check succeeds. Phone completion depends on the identity check and any further information ABRS needs. The overseas paper application allows up to 56 business days for processing. Postal delivery adds time, so start well before the proposed appointment.

What the Practice Needs From Each Director

Collect the director ID against the person and connect that record to each company or corporate trustee they direct. Your new client form can request the following details together.

• The director ID number.
• The director’s full legal name, with any difference from the ASIC record identified.
• Their date of birth.
• Each company or trustee company they direct, with the company name and ACN.

Check that the number has 15 digits and starts with 036. Compare the director’s name and officeholder role with the ASIC company extract. Ask the director to correct a copied number or explain a name difference before you mark the request complete. A format check detects an entry problem, but it does not prove that the number belongs to that person.

Tax Genie asks for director IDs in the company and corporate trustee form questions and checks the format as the client types. Its automatic reminders chase information left outstanding. Your practice sees which director still needs to respond without writing each reminder itself.

For a fictional client group, one person directs an operating company and a separate trustee company. Keep one person record with one director ID, then connect it to both companies. A second director has their own number. An entity chart helps show these appointments without treating each company as a different person.

A Message to Send a Director Who Can’t Find It

Send the director one clear request with the retrieval route and a reply-by date. Set the date in your request before sending it, and keep TFNs and identity documents out of ordinary email.

For a Director With myID

Your director ID is the personal number you keep for every company you direct. Please check your saved confirmation or sign in to ABRS with myID to find it: https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/manage-your-director-id

If you’ve never applied, you need to apply yourself through ABRS: https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/apply-director-identification-number

Please enter your number in our client form by the reply-by date shown in our request. Let us know if you need help finding it. Please don’t email us your TFN or identity documents.

For a Director Without myID

Your director ID is the personal number you keep for every company you direct. If you applied by phone or paper, check your ABRS letter or your myGov Inbox if it’s linked to the ATO.

If you can’t find it, phone ABRS on 13 62 50 to request a copy. If you’ve never applied and live in Australia, ABRS can help you apply by phone. Its application instructions are here: https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/apply-director-identification-number

Please return your number through our client form by the reply-by date in our request, or tell us what’s holding it up. Please don’t email us your TFN or identity documents.

Use the overseas application route for a director living outside Australia who cannot apply online. Keep the practice’s reply date separate from the director’s legal application deadline.

When a Director ID is Missing or Doesn’t Match

If an appointed director has no director ID, ask them to apply immediately and record the missing ID on the client file. Assign someone to follow up, keep the application confirmation and record when the number arrives. Obtaining an ID does not erase an earlier breach, so refer an enforcement notice or disputed appointment for advice.

For a name mismatch, first establish which record is wrong. A director who changes their surname updates their ABRS details and tells the company so its ASIC officeholder record can be updated. ABRS and ASIC hold separate records. Updating one does not complete the other update. Do not lodge a change using a guessed spelling to force a match.

ASIC says you currently do not provide a director ID when registering a company or changing director details. A missing number therefore does not itself block a current Form 201 or Form 484 lodgement. The director’s duty to apply before appointment still applies.

ASIC has announced a separate company reporting requirement with a commencement boundary in 2027. Its director ID guidance gives the commencement details. Collect and reconcile the numbers now so the company has its records ready.

Once both directors’ numbers are recorded against the correct people, finish the outstanding form requests and retain the links to their company appointments. Handle any necessary officeholder change through Form 484 as a separate company reporting step.