Serving legal documents on ASIC
This is Information Sheet 279 (INFO 279). It explains how to serve legal documents on ASIC.
It sets out:
- how to serve legal documents electronically
- what to do if you can’t serve documents electronically, and
- what kinds of document should not be served electronically.
We encourage electronic service of all legal documents. Electronic service allows ASIC to deal with your matter more quickly than if you serve your documents physically. If you intend to serve legal documents in person, please contact ASIC to make arrangements. Most ASIC offices (apart from Sydney and Melbourne) do not have a staffed reception.
If ASIC is a party to proceedings, legal documents (including subpoenas) should be served at the address for service we nominate in those proceedings.
Serving legal documents on ASIC electronically
If you are serving legal documents on ASIC, please see Table 1 for how you should serve different categories of document.
Table 1: How to serve legal documents electronically
| Category | How to serve the documents |
|---|---|
| I am applying to the court for the reinstatement of a company | Please serve ASIC by following the instructions set out on the Applying to the court for reinstatement page on our website. |
| I am serving a legal document on a deregistered company | If you want to file legal proceedings against a deregistered company, you must first reinstate it. ASIC does not conduct litigation on behalf of deregistered companies. Please see Legal proceedings involving a deregistered company for more information. |
| I am applying to the court for a winding-up order | If you need to notify ASIC of an application for a winding-up order, please lodge Form 519 Notification of court action relating to winding up by following the instructions on the form. Specifically, see the instructions for lodgement after 1 July 2017. |
| I am already dealing with an ASIC team | If you already have contacts at ASIC for the specific matter to which your documents relate, please serve ASIC by emailing the documents to those contacts. We will respond to acknowledge the receipt of your documents when we receive them. If you do not receive a response, please email or phone the relevant ASIC contacts. If you do not receive any response, please email legal.document.service@asic.gov.au |
| ASIC is already a party to proceedings | If ASIC is a party to litigation or proceedings, documents should be served at the address for service we nominate.
Please do not copy legal.document.service@asic.gov.au on communications with any court or other legal practitioners. |
| I am serving a subpoena issued to ASIC | You may email the subpoena to legal.document.service@asic.gov.au to serve it on ASIC.
An ASIC lawyer will respond to your email, accepting service on behalf of ASIC. If your subpoena is served through this email address and we acknowledge service of the subpoena, we will not dispute that it was validly served merely because it was served electronically. |
| I am serving another kind of legal document | If your legal document does not match any of the above categories, you may email it to legal.document.service@asic.gov.au to serve it on ASIC.
An ASIC lawyer will respond to your email, accepting service on behalf of ASIC. If your document is served through this email address and we acknowledge service of the document, we will not dispute that it was validly served merely because it was served electronically. |
Please do not copy the legal.document.service@asic.gov.au email address if you are serving the documents on ASIC by any of the other methods above.
Please do not serve documents on ASIC by post in addition to serving them on ASIC electronically.
I can’t serve my documents electronically
If you believe you cannot serve your legal documents electronically and you have contacts at ASIC for the specific matter to which your documents relate, please check with your contacts – they may be able to inform you of a method by which you will be able to serve the documents.
If you cannot serve your documents electronically and do not have an ASIC contact to discuss this with, please email legal.document.service@asic.gov.au for further information.
Documents that should not be sent to the legal document service email address
Please do not use legal.document.service@asic.gov.au for the following documents:
- ASIC forms (including any court orders that should be lodged using Form 105. For the specific lodgement details for each form, see our Forms webpage)
- breach reports under section 912D of the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) (please see Regulatory Guide 78 Breach reporting by AFS licensees and credit licensees (RG 78), which requires a licensee to report to ASIC through the ASIC Regulatory Portal)
- reports of misconduct (please see the Report misconduct to ASIC webpage), and
- applications for documents under freedom of information (FOI) legislation (please see our FOI requests webpage).
I want to seek ASIC’s position on an insolvency application
From 1 February 2021, we will only provide formal correspondence about certain kinds of court applications made under Chapter 5 and Schedule 2 of the Corporations Act. We will not provide formal correspondence about any other insolvency applications.
Where can I get more information?
For more information, call ASIC on 1300 300 630 or ask a question online.
Important notice
Please note that this information sheet is a summary giving you basic information about a particular topic. It does not cover the whole of the relevant law regarding that topic, and it is not a substitute for professional advice. Omission of any matter on this information sheet will not relieve a company or its officers from any penalty incurred by failing to comply with statutory obligations.
You should also note that because this information sheet avoids legal language wherever possible, it might include some generalisations about the application of the law. Some provisions of the law referred to have exceptions or important qualifications. In most cases your particular circumstances must be taken into account when determining how the law applies to you.