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Registered liquidators

Apply to be a registered liquidator

To apply for registration as a liquidator, you must lodge an application form with supporting documents.

For information on New Zealand insolvency practitioners seeking registration as a liquidator in Australia, refer to the New Zealand applicants section.

Due to the small number of applications, we do not offer electronic lodgement.

Before you start preparing your application take the time to thoroughly read our Regulatory Guide 258 Registered liquidators: Registration, ongoing obligations, disciplinary actions and insurance requirements (RG 258).

You should also read the important changes to applying for and maintaining registration as a liquidator from 1 January 2021. If you are applying to practise only as a restructuring practitioner for a company or for a restructuring plan, this also includes information about the skills and experience that ASIC considers may be relevant to performing the functions and duties relevant to these roles.

Before you submit your application

When you submit your application, use the Liquidator registration checklist to ensure you include all the information required.

Please download the following liquidator registration documents when preparing your application.

Your application must be made in the approved form, which means it must be made in Form 903B, include the information, statements, explanations or other matters required by Form 903B and be accompanied by other material required by Form 903B.

You will be invoiced for the prescribed fee after your application has been accepted for lodgement. See Information Sheet 30: Fees for commonly lodged documents (INFO 30) for fee details.

Where should you send your application?

Send a scanned copy of all supporting documents and a scanned copy of the signed application form by email to: LiquidatorRegistrationProofs@asic.gov.au. The size limit of each email we will accept is 10 MB. If necessary, to meet size limits, please send multiple emails containing supporting documents. Make sure that you include the applicant name in the subject line of each email.

Referral to committee

If your application is in the approved form, it will be referred to a committee. The committee will only decide that a person should be registered as a liquidator if the committee is satisfied that the person meets the criteria for registration.

ASIC will register a person as a liquidator if the committee decides that the person should be registered and the person produces evidence in writing to ASIC that the person has taken out adequate and appropriate professional indemnity and fidelity insurance against the liabilities the person may incur working as a registered liquidator.

New Zealand applicants

Under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 (TTMR Act), an insolvency practitioner registered in New Zealand is entitled to registration in Australia.

A New Zealand insolvency practitioner who wishes to be registered as a liquidator in Australia may lodge a notice with ASIC by email to LiquidatorRegistrationProofs@asic.gov.au .

Please refer to RG 258 for further information.

Registration

ASIC registers a person as a liquidator by entering the person's details on the Register of Liquidators. After registering the person as a liquidator, ASIC will give the person a certificate of registration. The registration is subject to the current conditions imposed on the registered liquidator and has effect for 3 years.

For more information about the registration process please contact us online or phone us on 1300 300 630.

Registration as a restructuring practitioner only

You can choose to apply to become a registered liquidator who is registered to practise only as a restructuring practitioner for a company or for a restructuring plan.

What qualifications, experience, knowledge and abilities do I need to apply for registration only as a restructuring practitioner?

A person applying for registration to practise only as a restructuring practitioner for a company or for a restructuring plan must satisfy the Committee that they:

  1. are a recognised accountant
  2. have demonstrated the capacity to perform satisfactorily the functions and duties of a restructuring practitioner for a company and for a restructuring plan, and
  3. are able to satisfy any conditions imposed under the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations) if they are registered as a liquidator.

A recognised accountant is a member of either Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, CPA Australia Ltd or the Institute of Public Accountants who:

  1. holds a public practising certificate
  2. is entitled to use the prescribed post-nominals of that body, and
  3. is subject to, and complies with, the body’s continuing professional education requirements.

No academic qualifications or hours of experience are prescribed for a person applying to be registered to practise only as a restructuring practitioner.

In order to assist a committee to decide whether an applicant has the demonstrated capacity to perform satisfactorily the functions and duties of a restructuring practitioner for a company and for a restructuring plan, applicants for registration as a liquidator to practise only as a restructuring practitioner are required to detail their relevant experience in their application form.

Examples of the experience a Committee may consider relevant includes whether the applicant is able to (amongst other things):

  1. conduct a business viability review
  2. provide 'safe-harbour' advice under section 588GA of the Corporations Act 2001
  3. prepare short, medium and long term cashflow forecasts
  4. develop a restructuring plan
  5. advise on the ongoing trading of a business with a view to returning it to solvency or selling it as a going concern
  6. provide advice on, or negotiate, the sale of assets or terms of trade by essential suppliers to a business
  7. conduct investigations into insolvent trading, voidable transactions and fraudulent transactions
  8. determine creditor claims for dividend purposes in an external administration, and
  9. demonstrate skills developed from work undertaken on external administrations or other restructuring arrangements that would enable the applicant to assess the ‘liability test’ for companies that are eligible for restructuring under Part 5.3B – Restructuring of a company of the Corporations Act 2001.

Related information

More about registered liquidators