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- The Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 June 2026, with key provisions effective immediately or from 1 July 2027.
- ASIC can now disqualify a director from managing corporations for up to 3 years for failing to comply with the Director Identification Number (DIN) regime — a new sanction that did not exist before this Act.
- From 1 July 2027, companies must report each director’s DIN to ASIC at every key corporate lodgement milestone, including registration applications, director change notifications, and annual reporting.
- ASIC commenced enforcement action in June 2026 against directors who still had not obtained a DIN — nearly four years after the original November 2022 deadline.
- Queensland directors who have not yet obtained their DIN, or whose companies are not recording director DINs, face increasing enforcement risk as ASIC’s 2026 investigation rate has doubled compared to 2025.
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If you are a director of an Australian company and you have not yet obtained your Director Identification Number — or if your company is not actively recording and reporting director DINs — you are now directly in ASIC’s enforcement sights.
The regulatory landscape changed materially on 29 June 2026. On that date, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Act 2026 (Cth) (the Act) received Royal Assent, passing both Houses of Parliament. Among its reforms, the Act equips ASIC with a powerful new sanction: the ability to disqualify a director from managing corporations for up to three years if they fail to comply with the Director Identification Number (DIN) regime.
This is not an abstract legislative change. ASIC had already commenced enforcement action against non-compliant directors in June 2026 — before the new legislation even passed. The regulator is not waiting.
What Is a Director Identification Number?
A Director Identification Number (DIN) is a unique 15-digit identifier that every director of an Australian company, registered body, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation is required to hold. The DIN regime was introduced to combat illegal phoenix activity — where individuals wind up companies with unpaid creditors and reappear as directors of new companies to repeat the cycle.
Under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), every director was required to obtain a DIN by the following deadlines:
- Directors appointed on or before 31 October 2021: deadline was 30 November 2022.
- Directors appointed between 1 November 2021 and 4 April 2022: deadline was 31 January 2023.
- Directors appointed from 5 April 2022 onward: must obtain a DIN before their appointment — not after.
Despite the extended grace periods, ASIC identified a material number of directors who remained non-compliant years after the deadlines passed. In June 2026, the regulator transitioned from issuing notices to commencing active enforcement action against those directors.
What the New Act Changes: Three Critical Reforms
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Act 2026 (Cth) amends the Corporations Act 2001, the Commonwealth Registers Act 2020, and related legislation. For directors and companies, three changes are most significant.
1. ASIC Can Now Disqualify Directors for DIN Non-Compliance
The most significant new power is found in the expanded section 1272EA of the Corporations Act 2001. Under the Act, ASIC may disqualify a person from managing corporations for up to three years if, within a seven-year period, they have failed to comply with the DIN requirements on two or more occasions.
This mirrors the administrative disqualification mechanism in section 206F, which ASIC uses against directors of failed companies. It is a serious sanction. A disqualified person cannot be a director, company secretary, or involved in the management of a company, and contravening a disqualification order is a criminal offence carrying significant penalties.
Before the Act passed, the maximum penalty for DIN non-compliance was a civil penalty — not disqualification from managing corporations. The Act fundamentally escalates the consequences for persistent non-compliance.
2. Companies Must Report Director DINs at Every Key ASIC Lodgement (From 1 July 2027)
From 1 July 2027, companies and registrable bodies are required to provide each director’s DIN to ASIC as part of the following standard corporate reporting processes:
- Applications for company registration (new companies);
- Notifications of director appointments;
- Notifications of director resignations or cessations;
- Changes to a director’s personal details; and
- Annual statement and reporting obligations.
The practical effect is that DIN compliance will become embedded in routine ASIC lodgements. From 1 July 2027, it will be impossible to register a new director or file a standard annual return without providing a DIN. For companies that have not been recording director DINs in their corporate governance systems — and many have not — the 12-month runway is the time to act.
3. ASIC Can Deregister Companies for False DIN Information
Under the Act, ASIC gains the power to deregister a company where it provides false or misleading DIN information in a lodgement. For small and medium businesses, deregistration is an existential consequence — assets vest in ASIC upon deregistration, and directors can face personal liability for debts incurred after deregistration if they continue to trade.
This power is directed at the phoenixing problem — specifically, at the practice of lodging false director information to conceal the identity of those behind a company. For legitimate companies with accurate records, the practical risk of triggering this power is low. But it underscores the legislature’s intent: accurate corporate registers are no longer optional.
Why ASIC Is Enforcing This Now: The 2026 Context
To understand why ASIC commenced enforcement action in June 2026 — before the Act even received Royal Assent — it is necessary to understand the regulator’s current operating posture.
ASIC’s 2026 enforcement priorities, announced in November 2025, place illegal phoenix activity, director misconduct, and inadequate corporate record-keeping at the top of the agenda. Deputy Chair Sarah Court has been publicly explicit: ASIC is doing “more investigations, taking more matters to court and securing record penalties.” The regulator doubled the number of new investigations in 2025 compared to the prior year.
In the second half of 2025 alone, ASIC imposed $349.8 million in civil penalties — a six-monthly record. The DIN regime is one of ASIC’s foundational anti-phoenix tools. Without a DIN, ASIC cannot readily trace a director’s history across corporate entities. When directors fail to obtain a DIN years after the deadline, the inference ASIC draws is that the non-compliance is deliberate.
For Queensland directors, ASIC’s enforcement footprint is not theoretical. In April 2026, a Gold Coast director was disqualified for the maximum five-year period under section 206F for involvement in the failure of four companies collectively owing more than $3 million to creditors. Queensland is squarely within ASIC’s active enforcement geography.
The Interaction with Other Director Obligations in 2026
The DIN enforcement wave does not exist in isolation. Queensland directors in 2026 are navigating a layered compliance environment in which the consequences of failure are increasingly personal.
The ATO issued more than 84,000 Director Penalty Notices in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 — a 136% increase on the prior year — pursuing directors personally for unpaid company tax and superannuation. Mandatory sustainability reporting obligations commenced for Group 1 companies in FY2025, imposing personal director liability for civil penalties up to $1.565 million for misleading disclosures. Payday Super obligations commenced on 1 July 2026, imposing daily compounding interest from the day a superannuation payment is late.
In this environment, administrative compliance obligations like DIN registration — which can be completed in approximately 15 minutes — should not be treated as low priority. The regulators are not treating them that way, and the new legislation makes that position unambiguous.
What Queensland Directors Must Do Now: A Six-Step Action Plan
If you are a director of an Australian company — whether long-standing or recently appointed — the following steps should be completed now, not in July 2027.
Step 1: Confirm You Have a DIN
Log in to the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) portal at abrs.gov.au using your myGovID credentials. Your DIN will be displayed on your dashboard. If you do not have a DIN, you can apply through the same portal — the process takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes for most directors.
Step 2: Audit All Current Directors of Your Company
Compile a list of every current director (including alternate directors) and confirm each holds a valid DIN. Record the DINs in your company’s corporate governance records. From 1 July 2027, lodging director changes without a DIN will not be possible.
Step 3: Review Your Director Appointment Process
Since 5 April 2022, every new director has been required to hold a DIN before their appointment. Update your director onboarding checklist to include DIN verification as a condition precedent to appointment — not a post-appointment administrative task.
Step 4: Update Your Company Secretarial Systems
Update your company secretarial software, share registry records, and minute-keeping systems to include a DIN field for each director. Implementing this data capture now avoids a scramble in 12 months when the reporting obligations commence.
Step 5: Obtain Legal Advice If You Have Not Complied
If you are a director who has not yet obtained a DIN, the enforcement risk is current — not prospective. Voluntary compliance before ASIC contacts you is always preferable to responding to an investigation. Legal advice can help you understand your specific exposure and how to approach ASIC if a notice has already been issued.
Step 6: Monitor Implementation Details
The Act is an enabling framework. Detailed requirements for DIN reporting in ASIC lodgements will be implemented via regulations and ASIC instruments over the coming months. Monitor the ASIC website for updates as the 1 July 2027 commencement date approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Director Identification Number (DIN)?
A Director Identification Number (DIN) is a unique 15-digit identifier required for every director of an Australian company, registered body, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation. It was introduced to combat illegal phoenix activity. Every existing director was required to obtain a DIN by 30 November 2022 or 31 January 2023 depending on their appointment date. Directors appointed from 5 April 2022 must hold a DIN before being appointed.
Can ASIC disqualify me from managing corporations for not having a DIN?
Yes. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 29 June 2026, gives ASIC the power to disqualify a person from managing corporations for up to three years if they fail to comply with the DIN requirements on two or more occasions within a seven-year period. A disqualification prevents you from being a director, company secretary, or otherwise involved in the management of any Australian company.
What are the new DIN reporting obligations from 1 July 2027?
From 1 July 2027, companies must provide each director’s DIN to ASIC as part of standard corporate reporting processes, including director appointment notifications, cessation notifications, personal detail changes, and annual reporting. From that date, it will not be possible to complete these ASIC lodgements without providing a DIN for each director.
What happens if I don’t have a DIN and ASIC contacts me?
Obtain legal advice immediately. Voluntary compliance — applying for your DIN promptly and responding cooperatively to ASIC — is always the better position than contesting enforcement action. The best course of action is to obtain your DIN through the ABRS portal at abrs.gov.au now, before ASIC’s attention reaches you.
How do I get a Director Identification Number?
Apply through the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) portal at abrs.gov.au using your myGovID set to standard or strong identity strength. The process involves verifying your identity using information held by the ATO (tax file number, bank account details, or superannuation account details). For most directors the application takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
[su_note note_color=”#f8f4ea” text_color=”#333333″ radius=”4″]This is general information only and is not legal advice. You should obtain professional advice specific to your circumstances before taking any action in reliance on this information.[/su_note]
Need advice on ASIC enforcement, director disqualification, or corporate compliance obligations? Call Mark Harley, Principal Solicitor, at Boss Lawyers on 1300 267 711 or complete our online contact form.
Author: Mark Harley, Principal Solicitor, Boss Lawyers | Admitted to practice in Queensland and New South Wales | 17+ years experience in commercial law, director disputes, and corporate governance
