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ShelfCompanies24 has been forming Australian companies for international clients since 1995. Our Australian agents handle every step of company formation in Australia on one agreed service contract, from picking the right legal form through ASIC registration, ATO ABN registration, beneficial-ownership filing and your first Australian bank account. Most clients are trading inside 1 to 2 weeks via ASIC electronic formation, or in 3 to 7 working days via a ready-made off-the-shelf Australian Pty Ltd.
Our service covers ASIC filings, registered office, Australian-resident director arrangement, ABN registration.
Australian Pty Ltd + registered office + nominee director + Australian banking introduction under one roof.
ASIC standard formation 1 to 2 weeks. English-speaking case manager.
Banking may require physical presence at Australian branch.
We file ASIC Form 201, ATO ABN application, organise Australian-resident director, register PAYG/GST if needed.
Company registration in Australia is an ASIC process, and the requirements for a proprietary limited company are short. You need between one and fifty non-employee shareholders of any nationality, at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia, a registered office address in Australia and a share structure. There is no statutory minimum capital. A company secretary is optional, although one who is appointed must be Australian-resident, and most Pty Ltd companies run on the replaceable rules of the Corporations Act 2001 rather than a bespoke constitution.
Registration itself is only half of it. The company also needs an ACN from ASIC, an ABN from the Australian Taxation Office, GST registration once turnover passes the AUD 75,000 threshold and beneficial-ownership disclosure under the AML and counter-terrorism financing rules. A public company sits under a heavier regime: three directors of whom two must be Australian residents, and a mandatory annual audit.
The Pty Ltd is the workhorse of Australian commerce. Governed by the Corporations Act 2001.
For ASX-listed entities and capital-raising. 3+ directors, 2+ Australian-resident, mandatory annual audit.
The Australian company formation process runs to eight steps, and an overseas founder is involved in only two of them: choosing the structure and signing. Our Australian agents carry the rest through ASIC and the Australian Taxation Office.
Confirm legal form, member structure, business activity (ANZSIC codes), banking preferences, Australian-resident director arrangement.
Apply via the Australian agent. Same-day name approval via online application.
Standard Constitution under Corporations Act 2001 for most Pty Ltd uses. Many Pty Ltd companies operate under “replaceable rules” (default statutory governance) without a bespoke Constitution.
Filed electronically via ASIC. Includes director and member details, registered office, share structure, beneficial-ownership disclosure. ASIC issues Certificate of Registration typically within 24 hours.
Australian Business Number applied for via the Australian Business Register. Typically issued within 1 to 5 business days.
Mandatory above AUD 75,000 turnover; voluntary below.
Not yet. Australia has no beneficial ownership register for unlisted companies. ASIC records the legal members of a proprietary company, which is a different thing, and banks collect beneficial owner data privately under anti money laundering rules. The Government announced in October 2025 that it will build a public Commonwealth operated register, with detailed policy work beginning in 2027. Separate disclosure rules for entities listed on Australian markets commence on 4 December 2026.
Australian banking partners: ANZ, Westpac, NAB, CBA, Macquarie, Bendigo, ING Australia, HSBC Australia. Banking onboarding for foreign-owned Pty Ltd typically requires physical presence at an Australian branch.
Setting up a company in Australia from overseas follows exactly the process above, with one addition. Shareholders may be of any nationality and may live anywhere, so a founder in the United States, India or the United Kingdom can own the whole company and run it from a home office abroad. What cannot be avoided is the Australian-resident director the Corporations Act 2001 requires, and the registered office in Australia. We arrange both, which is the single most common reason overseas founders come to us rather than filing with ASIC themselves.
The rest is documentary. Certified passport copies and proof of address are apostilled or notarised where you live, and the ASIC and Australian Taxation Office steps run without you. Banking is the exception: onboarding for a foreign-owned Pty Ltd often requires a director to attend an Australian branch in person, so the banking route is chosen before registration rather than after it.
You confirm the name, the shareholders and the share structure, appoint at least one Australian-resident director and a registered office, then file ASIC Form 201 electronically. Name approval is same-day online and ASIC normally issues the Certificate of Registration within 24 hours of a clean application. The ABN application follows through the Australian Business Register, typically issued in 1 to 5 business days, with GST registration once turnover passes the AUD 75,000 threshold.
A Pty Ltd can be run from a home office, in Australia or abroad, and there is no requirement to lease commercial premises. What the company does need is a registered office address in Australia for ASIC correspondence and at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia. We provide both. If the business will employ people or pass the AUD 75,000 turnover threshold, PAYG and GST registrations follow, and we set those up with the Australian Taxation Office.
The legal steps are the same as for a local founder: ASIC registration, ACN, ABN, then GST and PAYG where they apply. The differences are practical. Your identity documents have to be certified and apostilled abroad, the Australian-resident director has to come from somewhere, and bank onboarding takes longer for a non-resident beneficial owner because the source-of-funds review is deeper. Everything except the possible branch visit can be done remotely.
It depends on the shape of the engagement rather than on a single number. The variables are the legal form, how many directors and shareholders need KYC review, whether you need the Australian-resident director arrangement and the registered office, whether GST, PAYG and accounting go on retainer, and whether a bank introduction is included. ASIC and the Australian Taxation Office levy their own statutory charges, which are set by the regulators and change from time to time. Your consultant scopes it in writing before you commit.
A new Pty Ltd takes 1 to 2 weeks end to end through ASIC electronic formation. Name approval is same-day, ASIC normally issues the Certificate of Registration within 24 hours of the Form 201, and the ABN follows in 1 to 5 business days, with GST and PAYG registrations where they apply. An off-the-shelf Pty Ltd is faster: the share transfer and the Form 484 director changes complete in 3 to 7 working days.
Yes. The Corporations Act 2001 requires a Pty Ltd to have at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia, and a public company to have three directors of whom two are Australian residents. A company secretary is optional for a Pty Ltd but must be Australian-resident if appointed. Shareholders face no such rule and may live anywhere. We provide the Australian-resident director arrangement, which is what makes the structure workable for an overseas owner.
25% if the company is a base-rate entity, meaning aggregated turnover below AUD 50 million and no more than 80% of assessable income being passive base-rate income, which covers most foreign-owned operating SMEs. Otherwise the standard rate of 30% applies. GST of 10% sits on top of sales once turnover passes the AUD 75,000 threshold, and the franking system credits company tax already paid against the shareholder position on distribution.
Australia operates an imputation system: corporate tax pre-paid by the Pty Ltd is credited against shareholders’ personal tax liability when distributed as franked dividends. For Australian-resident shareholders this avoids double taxation. Non-resident shareholders receive franked dividends free of withholding tax (0%); unfranked dividends are subject to 30% withholding (reduced under DTTs).
The ABN application through the Australian Business Register comes first, then GST registration once turnover is expected to pass the AUD 75,000 threshold and PAYG withholding if the company will employ anyone. Beneficial-ownership details are filed under the AML and counter-terrorism financing rules, and the bank account follows. After that the company runs on an annual cycle: the ASIC annual review and the Australian Taxation Office return.
Ready to register your Australian Pty Ltd? Contact our Australian desk.
Australia is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick Australia for your Pty Ltd specifically? Pty Ltd 24h, English law, APAC hub is the headline reason, but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you are weighing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For Australia specifically: 30% standard / 25% base-rate (revenue under AUD 50M & up to 80% passive); Pty Ltd in 24h; Australian-resident director required.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in Australia:
Yes. A name change is filed with the ASIC via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing, typically clears in 48 hours. We include up to one name change as standard for both shelf-company purchase and new formation.
Your company cannot use the EU directives, because Australia sits outside the European Union and the EEA. It relies instead on its own network of roughly 46 comprehensive income tax treaties, which covers most EU member states, the United Kingdom and the United States. Almost all of them have been amended by the OECD Multilateral Instrument, so a principal purpose test applies and treaty relief depends on genuine commercial substance rather than on the structure alone.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
A Pty Ltd is a separate legal entity Australian-tax-resident with its own corporate tax filings and beneficial-owner record. A branch is an extension of a foreign parent, the foreign parent is the legal entity, the Australia branch books local-source income but the parent’s overall tax liability cascades. Most foreign owners pick a Pty Ltd for liability ring-fencing and clean tax accounting; branches are sometimes preferred where the parent has specific group-relief or treaty considerations that depend on common legal personality.
Engaging us for your Australian new Pty Ltd formation covers the following deliverables under one service:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC, we operate the same service globally for Australian corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are scoped separately, so the incorporation or transfer work stays exactly as agreed.