Serving legal documents on ASIC
Where to serve legal documents
If ASIC is a party to litigation or proceedings, legal documents (including subpoenas) should be served at the address for service nominated by ASIC in those proceedings.
If ASIC has not nominated an address, or is not a party to litigation or proceedings, they should be served at the Legal Division of the ASIC office of the state or territory in which the proceedings were issued (irrespective of the state or territory in which the parties are incorporated or carry on business).
If legal proceeding involves reinstatement of a company
Applications for court reinstatements need to served on ASIC, as a respondent to the proceeding. This is because a court generally seeks ASIC's position on the application before making a decision. See Applying to the court for reinstatement for more guidance.
Applications made in all states and territories, other than Queensland, should be served on ASIC by email to court.reinstatements@asic.gov.au, or if email not available, to Court Reinstatements GPO Box 9827 Brisbane QLD 4001.
For Queensland applications, service needs to occur by email only to ASIC's Property Law Group to property.law@asic.gov.au.
If legal proceeding involves a deregistered company
Anyone wishing to issue proceedings against a deregistered company will need to have it reinstated. ASIC does not assume conduct of litigation on behalf of the deregistered company. You should enquire with ASIC's Property Law Group at property.law@asic.gov.au before continuing any further. See Legal proceedings involving a deregistered company for more information.
In litigation or proceedings which do not involve ASIC, you may wish to use documents stored on the ASCOT or DOCIMAGE systems. In this case, you should ask us for a certified copy of the documents under s1274 of the Corporations Act through an ASIC Service Centre , instead of issuing a subpoena. (See Regulatory Guide 17 Fees for subpoenas).
Regulatory Guide 18 Serving legal documents on ASIC guides officers of companies and other business enterprises and their advisers about serving documents on ASIC.