ATO, ABR, MBR, ASIC, CBRS - quite a bit of DIN!

In 2020, legislation giving effect to the new Director Identification Number (DIN) regime passed and will be administered by the new Commonwealth Business Registry Service (CBRS) as part of the 2020 Budget Digital Business plan via the Modernising Business Registers (MBR) Program.

The MBR Program will (apparently) unify the Australian Business Register (ABR) and 31 registers administered by ASIC, on a contemporary, digital registry system. The unified government business register will be operated by the ATO.

The MBR Program will also include the introduction of a director identification number (DIN) - a unique identifier that a director will keep forever. It will be used by Regulators to verify the identity of directors and map out their relationships between entities - and thereby facilitate the traceability of the director.

Whilst key details of the regime - including what details will need to be provided - have yet to be publicly released, the established legal framework shows that the DIN will require all existing and new directors to confirm their identity to a unique identifier. It also appears that new directors will have to apply for a DIN before they are appointed as a director. A transitional period for existing directors will be specified by a legislative instrument. We also know that there will be civil and criminal penalties for directors who fail to apply for a DIN within the applicable timeframe and for conduct that undermines the new requirements (e.g. providing false identity information to the registrar or intentionally applying for multiple DINs).

There is no published timeline for the introduction of DIN, but it's coming, so it's best to be aware and ready to implement procedures to ensure compliance with the new law/s and the timely appointment of directors.

Modernising Business Registers and the Discussion Paper