Norfolk Island Reforms

The Territories Legislation Amendment Act 2020 amends a range of Commonwealth legislation to extend their application to the territories of Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Norfolk Island and the Jervis Bay Territory with the rest of Australia.

Under the reforms, on 2 August 2021, the operation of the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) was extended to Norfolk Island to ensure all Australian companies operate under the same legislative framework and the registration of eligible Norfolk Island companies were transferred to the Corporations Act.

ASIC services

From 2 August 2021, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is responsible for providing company registration services for Norfolk Island.

Eligible Norfolk Island companies were registered as Australian companies under the Corporations Act and will now appear on ASIC registers.

Eligibility for existing Norfolk Island companies

A Norfolk Island company was eligible to be registered as an Australian company if: 

  • it was a registered company under the Norfolk Island Companies Act 1985 (NI), other than a foreign company registered under Part 25 of that act (foreign companies will remain registered in their host jurisdiction); and

  • the company was not a Chapter 5 body corporate (as defined in section 9 of the Corporations Act); and

  • no application to wind up the company was made to the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island that had not been dealt with; and

  • no application to approve a compromise or arrangement between the company and another person was made to the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island that had not been dealt with.

Changes to your company details

You need to notify ASIC of certain changes to your company.

Common changes that require notification to ASIC include changes to company and officeholder addresses, appointing and ceasing company officeholders, transferring shares and appointing or ceasing members. For more information about changes to your company including how to notify ASIC of the changes, visit  changes to your company

Most changes need to be lodged with us within a certain timeframe. If ASIC is notified outside this time, we may charge a late lodgement fee. In most instances, ASIC must be notified within 28 days of the change occurring, otherwise late fees apply. For more information about late fees, amounts, and when they apply, visit our late fees web page.

When you notify ASIC more than 28 days after the date a director has ceased, ASIC must amend the date of cessation to the date the notification was lodged with us. For further information visit changing the date of a director resignation/removal.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

For more information, visit our FAQs.

Setting up your officeholder portal account

In some cases, you may experience an issue with signing up for your officeholder portal account. This is due to the requirement to enter a phone number when signing up.

To continue setting up your account, please enter your phone number using the 'Mobile' option. Input the number with a leading zero (0), followed by the area code 6723 and then your phone number.

We use your phone number to confirm your identity when calling us about an ASIC Connect account.

Please note, you must also select 'NSW' as the State/Territory when entering your address details.

Set up your online account now.

Searching the ASIC Companies Register

On 2 August 2021, eligible Norfolk Island companies were registered as Australian companies under the Corporations Act and will now appear on ASIC registers.

You can use our 'Organisations and Business Names' search on ASIC Connect.

You can search by the company's name or the company's Australian Company Number (ACN).

Search our registers

Use our online services

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Last updated: 02/08/2021 12:47