Director ID and how to get one before you need it

Anyone about to become a company director needs a director ID first, and it is one of the few parts of setting up a company that only you can do.

The ID is a unique 15-digit number. It belongs to you as a person, not to any company. You get one and keep it for life, so if you stop being a director and take it up again ten years later, the number is the same. Sit on the board of three companies and you use the same number for all three.

It exists so that every director's identity has been checked. That makes it harder for someone to be appointed under a false name, or to hide behind a string of companies.

Who needs one

Every company director. A one-person company with a single director, a company that acts as trustee for a family trust, a director who lives overseas: all of them. There is no size threshold and no minimum number of companies. A tradie who sets up a company with themselves as the only director needs a director ID exactly as much as someone on the board of a listed company.

Timing is what catches people out. You must have the ID before you are appointed. For a new company, every person who will be a director on day one needs their number before the company is registered. For an existing company adding a director, the new person gets their ID first.

Shareholders who are not directors do not need one. Nor does a company secretary who is not also a director.

Getting it, and what it costs

You apply for it yourself, online, through the Australian Business Registry Services using myID, the government's digital identity app. The ABRS website explains what you need. Nobody else can apply on your behalf, because the point is to confirm it is you.

It is free. Be wary of any website, email or text offering to get a director ID for you for a fee. A third party cannot apply for you, and anyone asking for your myID login, tax file number or identity documents so they can "handle it" should be avoided. If a message about your director ID looks official but wants you to click a link and pay, close it.

Once you have the number, keep it somewhere you will find it again. You will need it each time you are appointed to a company. If you lose it, you do not need a new one, and you could not be issued a second number anyway. ABRS can show you your existing ID.

The company registration itself is where we come in. We register proprietary companies limited by shares, and the process on our company registration page runs like this. You check that the company name you want is available. You enter the directors, the shareholders and the registered office address on our form, including each director's details and director ID. You pay, and we lodge the registration with ASIC. Once ASIC registers the company, you get its ACN.

If the company needs an ABN, the ABN application can be added to the same order, so you are not starting a second form once the ACN arrives.

With every director's ID in hand before you start, the form goes through in one sitting instead of stalling while you chase a missing piece. If one of your directors has not applied yet, ask them to do it first. And if you are not sure what else you need, our team can talk you through it on 1300 070 000, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Melbourne time.