ASIC company search and free company lookup
Search an Australian company by name, ACN or ABN and see its ABN record free: status, entity type, GST, state and postcode. ASIC's own register holds the rest, and this page sets out what ASIC shows free, what it charges and how to search it.
Your answer appears here
Is this company on the ABN register?
- Yes
- Check first
- No
A plain answer first, then what ASIC's register adds and what it costs.
- Company name
- The legal name on the ABN register
- ACN
- The 9-digit number ASIC issued
- ABN and status
- Active or cancelled, and since when
- Entity type
- Private or public company, or another structure
- GST and location
- GST registration, state and postcode
Each record links to its official entry on abr.business.gov.au.
Unofficial. Reads the Australian Business Register's public web services. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the ABR, the ATO, ASIC or the Australian Government. How it works.
Updated . Rules checked against asic.gov.au, abr.gov.au, abr.business.gov.au and ato.gov.au; each source below shows the date it was read.
What the lookup here shows, and what ASIC adds
The lookup here reads the Australian Business Register. ASIC keeps the company register itself. Between them:
"No" in the free columns means the detail isn't among what that source lists as public or free.
How to search ASIC's company register
- Open ASIC's search. On ASIC Connect (opens in a new tab), choose to search within Organisation & Business Names (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)).
- Enter the company. Type its name, a business name it holds, or its ACN, ARBN or ARSN (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)). An ACN finds one company; a name can find several, so use the box at the top of this page to get the ACN first.
- Open the result. Results come 20 to a page with basic details. Select the company to see its summary, with the products you can buy listed under "Information for purchase" (ASIC: User guide: Organisation and business name search (opens in a new tab)).
- Buy what you need. Add an extract to the cart and pay by credit card. ASIC emails online purchases to you (ASIC: Search fees (opens in a new tab)).
ASIC is also testing a public beta company search (opens in a new tab). For now it has free information only; ASIC says paid register information will be available later in 2026 (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)).
ASIC company search fees
ASIC's prices for company searches, as listed on 25 October 2026 (ASIC: Search fees (opens in a new tab)):
| Product | Online | By mail |
|---|---|---|
| Current company extract | $10 | $13 |
| Current and historical company extract | $21 | $24 |
| Roles and relationship extract | $24 | $27 |
| Certificate of registration of company | $24 | $24 |
| Copy of a document, under 10 pages | $21 | $24 |
| Copy of a document, 10 pages or more | $52 | $55 |
Mail prices include a $3 service charge (ASIC: Search fees (opens in a new tab)). On the same day, ASIC's company register page still listed older figures: $20 for the current and historical extract, $23 for the roles and relationship extract and the certificate, and $20 or $50 for copies (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)). The online figures above match ASIC's fee data file, which the search fees page takes its prices from (ASIC: Fees data (fees-data-current.json, the data behind ASIC's fee pages) (opens in a new tab)).
Which ASIC extract to buy
- Current company extract
- Today's details: the company's addresses, its directors and secretaries, its share structure and its members (ASIC: Current company extract (ASIC's example, February 2026) (opens in a new tab)). For each class of shares in a proprietary company, ASIC records the top 20 members (ASIC: Current company extract (ASIC's example, February 2026) (opens in a new tab)).
- Current and historical extract
- Current and past details together, including previous directors, share structures and members (ASIC: Current and historical company extract (ASIC's example, February 2026) (opens in a new tab)). Use it when you need to know who ran or owned the company before.
- Roles and relationship extract
- The company's links to other bodies: companies it is a member of, companies it is the ultimate holding company of, and corporations it is a director of (ASIC: Roles and relationship extract (ASIC's example) (opens in a new tab)). It is about the company, not a person.
- Copies of documents
- Documents the company has lodged with ASIC, listed in the free search (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)).
Extracts bought through ASIC's website no longer contain officeholders' residential addresses. ASIC says law enforcement agencies, government departments and those who need the addresses for regulatory compliance and business purposes still have access (ASIC: ASIC updates information available through purchased extracts (opens in a new tab)).
Is the company still registered?
The ABN record gives you an early sign. If ASIC tells the ABR that a company is deregistered, the ABR cancels its ABN (ABR: ABR integrity (ABN cancellation program) (opens in a new tab)), so a company with a cancelled ABN is worth checking on ASIC's register. An ASIC extract shows the company's status, such as Registered (ASIC: Current company extract (ASIC's example, February 2026) (opens in a new tab)).
To keep watch on a company you deal with, ASIC's company alert service (opens in a new tab) is free. It tracks certain changes to a company, made in documents lodged with ASIC (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)).
Bulk company data and information brokers
ASIC publishes data from its registers, the companies register among them, on data.gov.au. It is free, updated weekly, and comes as XLSX or CSV files or through an API (ASIC: Data.gov.au (ASIC register data) (opens in a new tab)). Some sites sell this data, or ASIC's own extracts, for more than ASIC charges, so compare their prices with the fee table above.
For more detail than the registers give, ABN Lookup suggests a business information broker and notes that ASIC lists them (ABN Lookup: ABN Lookup FAQs (opens in a new tab)): see ASIC's list of information brokers (opens in a new tab).
Questions people ask
Is an ASIC company search free?
Partly. ASIC's free search shows a company's name, type, ABN and ACN, registration date, next review date, the suburb, state and postcode of its registered office, and a list of the documents it has lodged (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)). Extracts with more detail cost from $10 online, as listed on 25 October 2026 (ASIC: Search fees (opens in a new tab)).
How do I find a company's directors?
They are in ASIC's paid company extracts, not in its free search and not on the ABN record (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab); ABR: Your ABN details on the ABR (opens in a new tab)). See company director search for the steps and costs.
How do I find a company from its ABN?
Type the ABN in the box at the top. For a company, the ABN record shows its ACN (ABR: Your ABN details on the ABR (opens in a new tab)), and the ABN is often the ACN with 2 extra digits in front (ASIC: Australian Company Number (ACN) (opens in a new tab)). Search that ACN on ASIC Connect for the company's ASIC details.
What's the difference between ABN Lookup and an ASIC company search?
ABN Lookup shows the public part of the Australian Business Register: the ABN and its status, the legal name, entity type, GST, the ACN, and the state and postcode of the main business address (ABR: Your ABN details on the ABR (opens in a new tab)). ASIC regulates companies, and ABN Lookup itself sends you to ASIC's registers for company details (ABN Lookup: ABN Lookup FAQs (opens in a new tab)). The lookup here reads the ABN register; ASIC's search reads the company register.
How can I tell if an Australian company is legitimate?
Check that its ABN is active and that the name on its invoice or contract matches the record, then check its details on ASIC's register. The ATO says to check an ABN when you suspect it isn't genuine, and lists warning signs (ATO: Checking an ABN (opens in a new tab)). See when to check an ABN for them.
Can I search a company by its ACN?
Yes, here and on ASIC Connect, which takes an ACN, ARBN or ARSN as well as a name (ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab)). To check that an ACN is well formed before you search, use the ACN lookup, which works through ASIC's check digit.
Sources
Every rule on this page comes from the official pages listed here. Each was read on the date shown, and the Updated date at the top is when this page was last checked against them.
- ABR: Your ABN details on the ABR (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026, page updated 5 August 2024.
- ABN Lookup: ABN Lookup FAQs (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ABR: ABR integrity (ABN cancellation program) (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Australian Company Number (ACN) (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Company and organisation registers (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Search fees (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Fees data (fees-data-current.json, the data behind ASIC's fee pages) (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Current company extract (ASIC's example, February 2026) (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Current and historical company extract (ASIC's example, February 2026) (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Roles and relationship extract (ASIC's example) (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: User guide: Organisation and business name search (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Personal information shown on the business names and companies registers (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: ASIC updates information available through purchased extracts (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ASIC: Data.gov.au (ASIC register data) (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026.
- ATO: Checking an ABN (opens in a new tab) Read 25 October 2026, page updated 11 June 2025, QC51686.