Today, the Government is releasing a consultation paper seeking stakeholder feedback to make business registry fees simpler, easier to understand, and more equitable.
Fit for purpose fees will be a core component of the newly established Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) to provide a single, streamlined location where businesses can meet their registry obligations.
The ABRS will be a key economic resource. It will allow increased access to registry data helping to underpin community trust across the economy.
The ABRS, being delivered through the Modernising Business Registers (MBR) Program, aims to cut red tape and make it easier to do business. The MBR Program will modernise and unite 31 Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) registers and the Australian Business Register.
To meet these objectives and modernise the system, the Government is considering the design of registry fees in the ABRS. Fees within scope of this consultation include registry fees currently collected by ASIC, such as:
- registration, review, and renewal fees
- search fees
- late fees
- lifecycle fees
- the potential introduction of an infrastructure fee.
This consultation builds on a discussion paper released in November 2018, taking into account progress in the implementation of the MBR Program and broader changes to the business environment.
We encourage businesses, professionals, and other users of the business registers to contribute to the consultation. The discussion paper is available on the Treasury website. Consultations will close 28 January 2022.