Your director ID: how to find it, how to get one, and when a loan makes it matter

If you run a company, you should already hold a director ID: a free number that proves you’re a verified person, which never changes once you have it. Can’t remember it? Log in to the ABRS online service with your myID, or dig out the original notice in your myGov inbox or your letterbox. Lenders rarely ask for the number itself. What trips owners up is a director who has never had one, right when a new loan needs a new company.

That last part is why this page is here. Most owners only think about their director ID when something stops: an accountant can’t finish setting up a company, a spouse can’t be added as a director, or an annual review raises a question. If you’re planning to borrow, it’s one of the easiest things to tick off early.

What is a director ID, in plain English?

It’s a permanent identity number for you as a person who runs companies. It isn’t a number for your business.

ASIC describes it as a unique “15-digit identifier” that stays yours for good. Switch companies, take a break from being a director or run five businesses at once, and it’s still the same single number.

The point of it is to make sure every director is a verified, real person, which makes it harder for fake or “dummy” directors to be used. It’s the same idea behind the identity checks a lender does, just at the government end.

Here’s how it compares with the other numbers you probably already have:

Number	Belongs to	Who issues it	Digits
Director ID	You, as a director	ABRS	15
ACN	Your company	ASIC	9
ABN	Your business	Australian Business Register	11
TFN	You, or your company, for tax	ATO	8 or 9

People mix these up all the time, and forms ask for several of them. Keeping the table handy saves a phone call.

Who needs one, and who doesn’t?

If you sit on the board of any of these, now or soon, you need one:

• a Pty Ltd company, even if you’re its only director;
• a trustee company behind a family trust, unit trust or self-managed super fund;
• an overseas company or other body registered to operate here;
• a corporation registered under the CATSI Act, which covers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations.

You don’t need one if you trade as a sole trader or in a partnership with no company involved. Being a company secretary, shareholder or bookkeeper doesn’t need one either. It’s about being a director.

The timing rule is simple. ASIC says that if you plan to become a director, you apply before you’re appointed. If you’re already a director and somehow never got one, apply now. Not having one when you should is an offence carrying up to 60 penalty units.

How do I find my director ID number?

Most directors applied back in 2022 or 2023 and have long since forgotten the number. Don’t apply again, as you can only ever have one. Try these, in order:

1. ABRS online. Log in with your myID at Standard or Strong identity strength. The number sits on the first screen after you log in, and there’s an option to download it as a PDF. Save that PDF with your business records so you never hunt for it again.
2. Your myGov inbox. If you applied by phone or on paper and your myGov account was linked to the ATO, the original notice should be in there.
3. Your post. Without a myGov link, the notice was mailed to the postal address you gave when you applied.
4. Call ABRS. If none of those work, ABRS can help on 13 62 50 (or +61 2 6216 3440 from overseas). The number is only given to you, not your accountant or business partner.

If you haven’t set up myID yet, or you’re stuck on the identity strength, our myID and RAM setup guide walks through it step by step.

How do I apply if I’ve never had one?

You do it yourself. Your accountant can’t apply for you, because the whole process checks that you are who you say you are. It’s free.

There are three ways, set out on the ABRS apply page:

• Online — the quickest. You’ll need a myID at Standard or Strong identity strength. ABRS asks you to have your tax file number, your residential address and details from identity documents ready before you start.
• By phone — on 13 62 50, if you can’t use myID.
• On paper — mainly for people without enough Australian documents, such as some directors who live overseas. This route takes longer, so start early.

A tip that saves real headaches: make sure your name matches across your ID documents, the ATO and ASIC before you begin. A married name on one document and a maiden name on another is one of the most common reasons an online check won’t go through.

Planning to borrow through a new company? You can see what’s possible here while the paperwork side gets sorted. No credit check to ask.

When does a director ID actually affect a business loan?

Most of the time, it doesn’t, directly. Lenders confirm who runs a company by looking at the ASIC record and checking each director’s photo ID. (Our page on company and trust documents covers exactly what they look at.) The director ID itself isn’t usually on the list.

It matters because of timing. These are the moments we see it cause friction:

• Borrowing through a brand-new company. Say you’re buying a business, or moving from sole trader to a company before you buy equipment or a vehicle. Each person who’ll be a director needs a director ID before the company can appoint them, so a missing one can push the whole timeline back.
• Adding a director to sign or guarantee. Sometimes a partner or family member joins the board so the loan structure works. They need their own director ID first.
• Trusts with a company as trustee. The directors of the trustee company are the people a lender deals with. If one of them was never set up, it can surface late.
• Overseas directors. The paper route takes time. If a co-director lives abroad, start early.
• Details that don’t match. If your name or address differs between ABRS, ASIC and your licence, it can create back-and-forth when a lender verifies who’s who.

None of this is hard to fix. It just goes more smoothly done a week before you need it than on the morning of settlement.

What’s changing on 1 July 2027?

Today, ASIC’s companies register doesn’t hold anyone’s director ID. ABRS keeps them separately. That’s about to join up.

Under a 2026 law, companies start handing their directors’ numbers to ASIC from 1 July 2027. ASIC’s announcement explains this will happen through the reporting you already do: the yearly company review, and any notice that a director has joined, left or changed details. Eventually anyone searching the register will be able to see whether a company has done it.

ASIC’s advice for now boils down to three jobs:

• check your company details are current and every director is recorded;
• fix any errors in names, addresses or contact details;
• compare what ASIC holds with what ABRS holds, and update anything that doesn’t match.

If you’re likely to borrow in the next year or so, doing this now also tidies the exact records a lender reads. It’s a calm, half-hour job with your accountant.

Watch out: director ID scams and paid “registration” sites

Because a director ID is linked to your identity, it attracts the wrong kind of attention. A few simple rules:

• The official service is free. Sites charging a fee to “register” your director ID are, at best, middlemen. Go straight to abrs.gov.au.
• Don’t trust links in texts or emails. Type the address yourself or use the myID app.
• Never share your myID login or codes with anyone, including someone saying they’re from the ATO, ASIC or a lender.
• Be wary of anyone needing your director ID “to release funds”. No genuine lender needs a fee or your login to pay out a loan.

Our page on business loan scams lists the other red flags to watch for.

Illustrative example: the café purchase that nearly slipped a week

Illustrative only; no real person or business described.

Two friends in Adelaide agree to buy a small café together through a new company. Their accountant is ready to register the company when she finds that one of them has never had a director ID. He’s been a sole trader for years and never needed one.

He tries to apply online that night, but his myID won’t go past Basic because his passport and licence show slightly different names. He works out which of his documents match, upgrades his myID to Standard the next day and gets his director ID. The company is registered, and their finance enquiry carries on with the right structure in place.

Done a week earlier, it would have been a non-event. That’s the whole lesson.

Your 10-minute director ID checklist

• Find your director ID and save the ABRS PDF with your business records.
• Check every co-director (including a trustee company’s directors) has one.
• Make sure your name and address match across ABRS, ASIC and your photo ID.
• If someone is joining as a director, get their director ID sorted before the appointment.
• Note 1 July 2027 in your diary and ask your accountant how they’ll handle it.

Want the rest of the list a lender is likely to want? Our paperwork checklist builder gives you a tailored list in a couple of minutes, and our ID guide covers the photo ID side.

Got the paperwork side sorted? See what you could borrow

A director ID is one small piece of being a well-organised company owner. If you’re setting up a company, adding a director or already running one, the next question is usually: what could the business actually borrow?

That part is easy to ask. Our enquiry takes about 60 seconds and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. Your details are not sent to a pile of lenders, so there’s no spray and pray and no flood of calls. A real person reads your enquiry, calls you and talks through your options in plain English, including how your company or trust structure fits.

Please fill the form in accurately: tell us whether you borrow as a sole trader, company or trust, and if a new company or director is on the way. That’s how we match you to the right option first time.

Check what your company could borrow, no credit check →