Australian Business Name (ABN) And Registration

Choosing The Right (ABN) For Your Business 

A good ABN (Australian Business Name) will help ensure you’re creating the right image for your business. It'll also help to distinguish it from your competitors. Before deciding on your name you should familiarise yourself with the different registration requirements.

A business name is the name under which your business trades and it needs to be registered in every state where trading takes place.

A company name must be registered with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). But if you want your company to trade under a different name, then you’re also required to register the trading name as a business name.

Be aware that registration of a business, company or domain name does not in itself give you any proprietary rights - only a trade mark can give you that kind of protection. Ensure you have exclusive use of your name now and in the future throughout Australia by registering your business name as a trade mark. 

Register your business name in NSW

You can download an application form and register your business name over the counter at a Fair Trading Centre. Please note a registration fee will apply. Refer to the NSW Office of Fair Trading website or phone 13 32 20 for further information. In NSW you will need to renew your business name every 3 years.

Fair Trading Centres in Sydney

Facts About Registering a Business Name

1. What are two key differences between merely registering a business name and incorporating a company?

Business names are registered on an Australian state-by-state/territory-by-territory basis. In contrast, companies, and company names, are registered on an Australia-wide basis.

The mere registration of a business name (such as 'Jenny's Flower Shop') does not create a new legal entity - the registered business name is simply a name under which an existing person (or partnership, company or trust) trades. However the incorporation of a company (such as 'Jenny's Flower Shop Pty Ltd') creates a separate legal entity - an entity with its own independent existence, powers, rights and obligations.  

2. What are some common misconceptions about the registration of a business name? 

i. Many people wrongly think that the primary reason for the registration of a business name is to 'protect it'. Whilst the registration of a business names may well provide a degree of protection of the business name (by default, and from a mere practical point of view, as opposed to a purely 'legal' point of view), this is not the primary purpose for which the Register of Business Names was set up. The primary purpose of each of the state and territory business names registers is to allow members of the public to 'look up' the register so that they can see who is 'behind' a particular business name, or more precisely, who is/are the person/s trading under the business name.

ii. Many people wrongly think that they have a choice as to whether or not to register their business name. In contrast, the real position is that they generally have an obligation to do so. That is, and speaking generally, whenever a person or company, trades under a name other than their own full name (and note that in the case of a company, the company's name ending - e.g. 'Pty Ltd' - does form part of the company's full name), then they must register that name as a business name.

iii. Many people wrongly think that just because they have their business name registered then by that very fact and without more, they automatically own the business name, and have an exclusive right to use the business name, and that they cannot be prevented (or successfully sued) by others from using the business name. This belief is wrong for all sorts of reasons. For example, another person or company may already have a reputation under (and 'goodwill' in) that business name in a particular state, even without having previously traded in that state under that business name (and therefore even without having previously registered the business name in that state).  

3. How do I tell if my actual or proposed business name has already been registered by someone else?  

By searching the Register of Business Names at the relevant state/territory 'business names offices', or, more practically and without cost, by searching ASIC's combined National Names Index. 

4. How do I tell if my proposed or actual business name is available to be registered? 

Speaking generally, the business name will not be available to be registered if it has already been registered in the particular state in which you want to register it, or if it is identical to the name of an existing incorporated (Australia-wide) company name (ignoring the company 'name ending' e.g. ignoring the 'Pty Ltd' part). (You can use ASIC's combined National Names Index to search for these factors.) However, even if the exact business name has not already been registered, it still may not be available to be registered by you because the relevant business names office may consider that the proposed business name is 'too similar' to an existing registered business name, and/or likely to cause confusion with an existing business name. Thus there is a 'subjective test' when determining the availability of business names. Accordingly, whether or not you are able to get the business name registered may depend upon the viewpoint of the particular business names registration officer you 'come up against'.

5. Do I have to register my business name in all Australian states?

You are obliged to register your business name (unless the business/trading name is your own name, or your company's full name including the company's name ending - e.g. 'Pty Ltd') in each of those states or territories in which you propose to carry on business under the business name. So if you are carrying on business under the business name in each Australian state and territory, then you are obliged to register the business name in each of those Australian states and territories - eight in all. But if you are only carrying on business under the business name in one state or territory (the most common situation for small businesses), you only have to register the business name in that one state or territory.

6. Does the registration of my business name in one state, prevent the registration of that same business name by another person in another state? 

No it doesn't.

7. Does the registration of my business name 'as a company name' (e.g. 'Huggies' becoming 'Huggies Pty Ltd'), prevent the registration of that 'same' business name (e.g. 'Huggies') by another person in another state? 

Yes it does.

8. Should I consider registering my business name (e.g. 'Huggies' Pty Ltd) as a domain name (e.g. 'Huggies.com.au')?

Yes. Why? So that if or when you come to build a website for your business (which is increasingly becoming, and will increasingly become, the norm) you don't find that your business name has been registered as a domain name by someone else.

9. If I have just 'registered my business name as a company' (or, in other words, 'incorporated my existing business name', or 'added 'Pty Ltd' to the end of my existing registered business name), what should I 'do', if anything, with the existing registered business name? 

(*For example, you may have been a sole trader trading under your registered business name 'Huggies' and you may now have incorporated a company named 'Huggies Pty Ltd' to carry on the existing business.) You will (generally, and loosely speaking) have two options -

i. Transfer the business name to the company.

In the above example, if you want the newly incorporated company to have the option of trading under the name 'Huggies', as well as under its own name, 'Huggies Pty Ltd', then you will have to fill out and lodge a form advising the relevant state 'business names office(s)' that the company, Smiths Pty Ltd, is now trading under the 'Huggies' business name instead of yourself. For information about this, and the relevant 'transfer of registration' form(s), see the links at point 5 above.

ii. Relinquish the existing registered business name.

In the above example, if the newly incorporated company will always trade under its own full name, 'Huggies Pty Ltd' (and thus will always use and display the name ending 'Pty Ltd'), and thus will never trade under the existing registered business name, 'Huggies', then Incorporator expects that you would deregister the existing business name - by filling out and lodging a form advising the relevant state 'business names office(s)' that you (nor anyone else - e.g. your company) are no longer trading under the business name. For information about this, and the relevant form(s), see the links at point 5 above.