Australia Corporations Act 2001 – Company Law
Australia Corporations Act 2001 is the primary legislation that regulates registration and operation of companies in Australia. You will find below the key extracts from the Australia Corporations Act 2001 act along with the full act.
Company Name
A company may have as its name:
An available name; or the expression “Australian Company Number” followed by the company’s ACN. A limited public company must have the word “Limited” at the end of its name. A limited proprietary company must have the words “Proprietary Limited” at the end of its name.
Registered Office
A company must have a registered office in Australia and must inform ASIC of the location of the office. The purpose of the registered office is to have a place where all communications and notices to the company may be sent.
If the company does not occupy the premises where its registered office is located, the occupier of the premises must agree in writing to having the company’s registered office located there.
A proprietary company is not required to open its registered office to the public but this does not affect its obligation to make documents available for inspection.
Certificate of Incorporation
Certificate of Incorporation certifying that a company is incorporated under the Associations Incorporated Act 1985 detailing:
- Company Name
- Date of Incorporation
- Company Number
Company Directors
Only an individual who is at least 18 years old can be a director. If a company has only 1 director, they must ordinarily reside in Australia. If a company has more than 1 director, at least 1 of the directors must ordinarily reside in Australia.
Shareholders
A proprietary company limited by shares must have a share capital and at least 1 shareholder.
A person may become a shareholder of a company in several ways, including the following:
- the person being listed as a shareholder of the company in the application for registration of the company
- the company issuing shares to the person
- the person buying shares in the company from an existing shareholder and the company registering the transfer.