InFocus December 2024 - Volume 33 Issue 10
- Christmas closedown - we're still online this festive season
- Coming Soon - ASIC Professional Registers Search
- Registered agents: Ceasing to act as a company’s agent
- Lodging a Form 488 on behalf of a company or registered scheme as a registered agent?
- Small Business Showcase
- NewAccess for Small Business Owners program
Christmas closedown - we're still online this festive season
Telephone and online enquiry services will be unavailable from 12:00 PM AEDT Tuesday 24 December 2024 to 8:30 AM AEDT Thursday 2 January 2025.
During the closedown, you can still access our online services:
For business names, if you have an existing Australian Business Number (ABN), you can apply to register a business name via Business Registration Services (BRS) or ASIC Connect. ASIC Connect can also be used to maintain/renew existing business names.
For companies and professional registers, you can lodge documents with us online using our online portal.
For search products you can use ASIC Connect to search our registers and purchase any documents you need.
A reminder for registered agents to have arrangements in place to ensure your customers won’t incur late fees during the closedown period.
Find out more information about our Christmas closedown and the BRS.
Coming Soon - ASIC Professional Registers Search
Earlier this year, we launched the ASIC Professional Registers Search (Beta).
During the Beta period, we received valuable feedback which helped us make further changes to improve the functionality and experience for you and your customers.
On Monday 9 December 2024, the Professional Registers Search will be officially launched, seeing an end to the Beta.
As part of this, several updates will be made to the ASIC website to launch the new service and remove the existing professional register searches from ASIC Connect.
The existing professional register searches listed below will be removed from ASIC Connect:
- Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees,
- AFS authorised representatives,
- credit licensees,
- credit representatives,
- official liquidators,
- registered auditors (registered company auditors and authorised audit companies),
- registered liquidators,
- registered managed investment schemes, and
- approved self-managed super funds (SMSF) auditors.
Registered agents: Ceasing to act as a company’s agent
If you cease to act as a company's agent, you must lodge either a:
|
Form |
When to use |
|
Form 361 Notification of a registered agent ceasing to act for a company |
You need to notify us that you are no longer representing the company or companies. |
|
Form 362 Notification by a company to nominate or cease a registered agent or contact address. |
The company notifies us that they are ceasing you as their agent. |
Both forms can be lodged by you, if you are the ceasing agent.
The lodgement of either form will remove your mailing address from the impacted company's postal address, but not the registered office address.
Is your address the company’s registered office address?
To avoid your address staying as company's registered office address, before ceasing you should:
- Seek authorisation from the company to update the company’s registered office address via a Form 484 or,
- Notify us in writing that you withdraw consent for your premises to be the registered office. We’ll update the address to an alternative mailing address.
Learn more on our website.
Lodging a Form 488 on behalf of a company or registered scheme as a registered agent?
If your answer is yes, the required payment must be made to your account, not the company's account.
To avoid misallocation of payments and to ensure it goes to your correct account, you must include your ASIC registered agent number on the Form 488 under the “Lodgement details”.
Lodgement of the Form 488 Application to change the review date of a company or registered scheme creates an invoice under your account as a registered agent.
When lodging the form for multiple companies, you’ll only need one payment for all the companies, instead of providing multiple payments for each company. Learn more on our website.
Small Business Showcase
The Fair Work Ombudsman wants to make it easier for small business operators to access information about their workplace obligations.
The Small Business Showcase has resources, advice and information tailored for you, including:
- Hiring and paying employees
- Keeping the right records
- Managing employee performance
- Leave
- Flexible work & permanent employment requests
- Ending employment and a
- Employer advisory service.
You can also learn more about managing staff entitlements over the end of year holiday season by visiting the Fair Work Ombudsman website.
NewAccess for Small Business Owners program
Beyond Blue's NewAccess for Small Business Owners program is a tailored mental health coaching program that can teach you skills, strategies and techniques to help you solve problems, manage challenges and get you back on track.
It’s free, confidential and convenient. Available nationally by phone or video call, no GP referral is required.
To enquire or apply, visit the Beyond Blue website.
“The NewAccess for Small Business Owners program taught me skills and techniques to help with how I feel that I can use every day. This is the first time in my life that I feel proud of myself” - NewAccess for Small Business Owners participant