Current directors of Australian companies, including foreign companies registered with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, will be required to apply for their unique director identification number (director ID) by 30 November 2022.

The deadline has now been confirmed by the Australian Government.

Existing directors will be able to apply for their director ID anytime between November 2021 and November 2022, while new directors appointed between 1 November 2021 and 4 April 2022 will have 28 days after appointment to obtain their director ID.

Directors who are appointed from 5 April 2022 will need to have their director ID before their new appointment.

Directors of Indigenous corporations that are governed by the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) have until 30 November 2023 to apply for their director ID.

The director ID regime aims to prevent illegal phoenixing by ensuring directors can be traced across companies, while also preventing the use of fictitious identities.

Directors will only ever have one director ID. Alternate directors will also need a director ID however a person who is a company secretary but not a director will not.

How to apply

Directors will need to have a myGovID with Standard or Strong identity strength.

The myGovID is different from myGov. myGovID is an app that you can download to log in to a range of government online services including myGov. To set up the MyGov ID you will need to provide a personal email address, full name and date of birth. To achieve the required identity strength directors will need to provide at least two Australian identity documents, e.g. driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate, Medicare card.

Applications for a director ID will then be able to be made on the newly created Australian Business Register Services platform.

Directors must apply for their director ID themselves, and will be required to produce their myGovID, residential address as recorded by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and provide information from two identity documents based on details the ATO holds including:

• bank account details
• superannuation account details
• ATO notice of assessment
• dividend statement
• Centrelink payment summary
• PAYG payment summary.

Directors outside Australia can also apply for a Director ID from November 2021. These applications will be processed manually and directors will need to provide certified copies of identity documents.

Penalties

Under the law, directors who fail to apply for a director ID before the deadline can face criminal or civil penalties of 5,000 penalty units, which currently stands at $1.11 million. Directors of a CATSI organisation can face penalties of up to $200,000.

If you have any questions, or would like more detailed instructions on how to apply for your director ID, please give us a call on 03 5443 0344 or email our Corporate Secretary team at Corpsec@afsbendigo.com.au