Businesses have lodged tens of thousands of applications with the new National Business Names Registration system, paying up to 90 per cent less to register their business name to operate nationwide, said Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, the Hon Bernie Ripoll MP.
The National Business Names Registration system is part of the Government's seamless national economy reforms that are cutting red tape and reducing compliance costs for business.
On 28 May 2012, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) assumed responsibility for the administration of business names from the states and territories.
This means eight separate systems have been replaced by a single online business registration system.
ASIC has received 75,000 registration applications since 28 May, approximately 5,000 per week.
"The new National Business Names Register makes it easier and less costly for businesses to set up and operate across state and territory borders," said Mr Ripoll.
"The new system provides a valuable online service for businesses seeking to register an available name, which means that this service can be accessed at times that suit business owners."
Under the new system, the cost to register a business name nationally for three years has been cut significantly to $70, compared to over $1,000 under the previous system of registering a name in all eight states and territories.
ASIC had to migrate over 84 million data records from eight different States and Territories as part of this process, including over 1.6 million existing business names.
ASIC figures show that 100 per cent of registration applications have been submitted online, 25-30 per cent of these being done outside normal business hours, at times more convenient for small business.
79 per cent of customers are choosing the 'pay now' option to use a credit card and get their registration on the spot.
The volume of calls to the ASIC call centre has been above expectations and this has led to some frustrations for people with queries about registering a business name.
"ASIC has taken a number of steps to address these issues, including establishing an extra 30 phone lines, training an additional 40 staff members and revising the queuing and automated messages that direct people to the relevant information on the website."
"I can assure business owners that the Government is working hard with ASIC to improve the delivery of the business names registration service," Mr Ripoll said.
ASIC will shortly commence issuing renewals for the transitional business names, and will launch a fully online service to update business name details. For information and tips on navigating the new online service go to 'Latest Updates'