Government access to the business names register
Key points:
- Government agencies can access information on the business names register free of charge if it’s for an eligible purpose.
- Government agencies need to apply to ASIC for access.
- Each agency must have an administrator. This is someone who is authorised to request and manage user access for the agency.
About the business names register
The business names register is a searchable database of registered business names and the people or organisations that hold them.
Access for government agencies
Eligible government agencies can access information on the business names register free of charge if it is for an eligible purpose. This includes to enforce the law, to protect consumers or for security and intelligence purposes.
See sections 11(3) and 62 of the Business Names Registration Act 2011 for more information about eligible government agencies and purposes.
What you can access
Government agencies can access the following information free of charge:
- publicly available information, including extracts of information on the business names register and customised reports
- information that is not available to the public to view or purchase, such as personal details of business name holders.
How you can access the information
You can access the information:
- in the ASIC Connect government access portal, or
- via your agency’s machine-to-machine (m2m) web service technology.
If your agency does not have access to the register already, your agency will need to send a formal request to ASIC. See How to request access.
Customised reports cannot be accessed via ASIC Connect or m2m services. We will provide them in CSV format on request.
How to request access
To request access, send a formal request to access.request@asic.gov.au.
Your request must:
- be on your agency’s letterhead
- confirm that the agency is an eligible government body under section 11(3)
- confirm that you are requesting access for one or more of the purposes set out in section 62
- explain that purpose(s)
- include a statement that the information will only be used for one or more of the purposes outlined in section 62
- confirm that your agency agrees to the ASIC digital services access terms and conditions (PDF 235 KB), specifically where these relate to the handling of personal and confidential information
- nominate an agency administrator
- be signed by a person authorised by your agency.
If we approve your request, we will send ASIC Connect log-in details to the nominated administrator. The administrator can then create accounts for individual users.
If you will be accessing the information via your agency’s own m2m technology, in your request you will also need to confirm that your agency agrees to our web services terms and conditions of use (PDF 78 KB).
Nominating an agency administrator
Each agency must have an administrator. They will be the primary contact for ASIC communication about the agency’s access.
An agency must have at least one administrator, but cannot have more than three.
To nominate an administrator, in your request tell us the:
- administrator’s name
- role
- agency name
- contact phone number
- email address.
Changing an administrator
To make changes to an administrator, send the new administrator details to access.request@asic.gov.au.
Managing accounts
Customised reports
Government agencies can request access to customised data reports (CSV format) of the following publicly available information:
- business name registrations
- updates to business name information
- business name cancellations.
Send your request to access.request@asic.gov.au.
Relevant legislation
Section 11(3) and section 62 of the Business Names Registration Act 2011.