ASIC has started bringing court actions against Directors in Australia for failing to have a Director Identification Number (DIN). The actions brought by ASIC are criminal. Therefore, any penalty imposed by the court in such a case will result in the Director having a criminal record.

As highlighted in our November 2021 article New Requirement for Directors to Register for a Director Identification Number, company directors are required by law to apply for a director identification number.

A director ID is a unique identifier that directors apply for once and keep forever. ASIC suggests that the implementation of the director ID system will help prevent the use of false or fraudulent director identities.  All directors of companies, registered Australian bodies, registered foreign companies or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations will need director ID’s.

Unfortunately, on 28 October 2022 ASIC published an Alert warning that scammers are pretending to be ASIC, and are approaching Registry customers via email.

The new Director Identification Number regime commenced on Monday 1 November 2021. 

If you are a company director, you are now required to have your own unique Director Identification Number - a 15 digit identification number issued by the Australian Business Registry Services. 

You only need to apply for it once, and you keep it forever.