Invest in Australia

Australia Company Registration Guide

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Australia Legislation

australia

Enjoying more than two decades of economic expansion, Australia is a vibrant free market and is one of the wealthiest Asia-Pacific nations. Governed by an effective system, Australia’s economy has been strong, unmarred by recession for more than 25 years. Ensuring your business information in Australia is accurate and up to standards is essential to keeping your business successful. To help companies prepare themselves for business, Links has created a company registration guide, including information such as the main employment laws, public holidays in Australia and best practices in Australia. Please note that all the information listed below are to be used as a general guideline, for more detailed accounts of laws and regulations, please visit the official governmental websites.

 

Australia Legislation

Companies looking to set up in Australia are required to fill out a form which is to be submitted to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Once the company is registered, they will be provided with a company number. For more details on this, you may visit the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) site.

In Australia you need to have a tax file number (TFN) to make tax payments. You are also encouraged to get an Australian Business Number (ABN), although this isn’t compulsory.

To open a company bank account in Australia, you’ll need the following:

  • Company name as registered with the ASIC
  • Australian Company Number (ACN) and/or Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • Registered office and place of business
  • Full name of company directors
  • Registration date
  • Business name or trading name
  • Identification documents that are used for the 100-point system (passport, driver’s license, identification card, etc.)

Benefits of Registering a Company in Australia

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Diversity of workforce

Australia is home to people from many different cultures. This diversity of cultures brings innovation and new perspectives that can be quite valuable for doing business. If you are opening a company and looking to expand globally, the multinational, multicultural workforce in Australia is a good stepping stone.

 

Economic stability

Ranked in the global top five on the Index of Economic Freedom, Australia’s effective governance provides multinationals with a safe, secure business environment. Australia’s economy is ranked 15th out of 190 economies for ease of doing business.

 

Many small businesses

When opening a company in Australia, there is less of a need to be worried about not being able to compete in a market with large corporations. The majority (over nine in ten) of Australian businesses are small businesses. They account for 33 per cent of Australia’s GDP, they employ over 40 per cent of Australia’s workforce, and pay around 12 per cent of total company tax revenue.

Considerations when Starting a Company in Australia

All companies that have employees need to have a default super fund in the event that an employee does not have a super fund or has not supplied the information for their fund by the time payment is made. The default super fund that you choose must have a “My Super” option, which is a low cost fund.

To learn more about superannuation in Australia, please visit the following link: https://www.apra.gov.au/industries/superannuation

Employment Law in Australia

Employees’ Compensation

All companies must have workplace health and safety insurance to operate in Australia.

Some forms of insurance are compulsory for Australian businesses, such as:

  • Workers’ compensation – workers’ compensation insurance is mandatory if you have employees.
  • Public liability insurance – public liability insurance covers you for third party death or injury. Certain types of companies must take out public liability insurance.
  • Third party personal injury insurance – if you own a motor vehicle, you must pay for third party personal injury insurance. This is often part of your vehicle registration fee.

For more info on the type of insurance your business needs, please visit: https://business.gov.au/risk-management/insurance/business-insurance

Work Permits

It is the responsibility of all Australian businesses to employ legal workers.

A person is a legal worker if they are:

  • An Australian citizen
  • An Australian permanent resident
  • A New Zealand citizen, or
  • A foreign national with a visa with permission to work in Australia

Minimum Wages

From 1 July 2022, the national minimum wage is $21.38 per hour or $812.60 per 38 hour week (before tax). Casual employees covered by the national minimum wage also get at least a 25% casual loading.

Maximum Working Hours

An employer must not request an employee to work more than the following hours of work in a work week, unless the additional hours are reasonable

  • for a full-time employee, 38 hours
  • for an employee other than a full-time employee, the lesser of 38 hours or the employee’s ordinary hours of work in a week

The hours an employee works in a week must be taken to include any hours of leave or absence (paid or unpaid) that is authorised:

  • by the employer or
  • by or under a term of the employee’s employment or
  • by or under a Commonwealth, State or Territory law, or an instrument in force under such a law.

An employee may refuse to work additional hours if they are unreasonable. Here is more information on maximum working hours in Australia.

Paid Annual Leave

The Fair Work Act 2009 in Australia states that all permanent employees are entitled to a minimum of 4 weeks annual leave per year, based on their hours of work. This accrues from the start date of the employee. Annual leave is paid out in full on termination of employment. See here for more information on paid annual leave.

Paid Sick Leave

The Fair Work Act 2009 in Australia states that all permanent employees are entitled to a minimum of 10 days personal leave per year, based on their hours of work. This accrues from the start date of the employee.

Part-time employees have pro-rata days of personal leave. See here for more information on paid sick leave.

Termination

An employer must provide an employee with written notice of the day of termination when ending their employment. Some exceptions apply (see below).

An employer may give notice to the employee by either:

  • delivering it personally
  • leaving it at the employee’s last known address
  • sending it by pre-paid post to the employee’s last known address
  • if the employee agrees, sending it electronically by email or text message

An employee may also need to give their employer notice of termination if their award or agreement specifies it. Here is a guide.

 

Long Service Leave

Each state has different legislation on Long Service Leave. Most employees’ entitlement to long service leave comes from long service leave laws in each state or territory. These laws set out:

  • how long an employee has to be working to get long service leave (eg. after 7 years)
  • how much long service leave the employee gets.

 

Employees

Benefits In Kind

Health insurance is not common practice in Australia and is not an obligation that employers need to cover.

Share Options

Share options are not commonly used as a benefit in Australia, but for more information please visit: 

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/investing/shares/employee-share-schemes

  

New Employees

When hiring new employees, they must be supplied with the Fair Work Information Statement. They also need to complete the tax file number declaration and superannuation standard choice form. Check this link for more information: 

https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/IND/Downloads/TFN_declaration_form_N3092.pdf

Discrimination Laws

In Australia, it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a number of protected attributes, including age, disability, race, sex, intersex status, gender identity and sexual orientation in certain areas of public life, including education and employment. Australia’s federal anti-discrimination laws are contained in the following legislation:

Statutory Benefits

Employees can get parental leave when a child is born or adopted. Parental leave entitlements include:

  • maternity leave
  • paternity and partner leave
  • adoption leave
  • special maternity leave
  • a safe job and no safe job leave
  • a right to return to old job

Tax

Payment Summaries

Employers must supply employees with payment summaries at the end of the financial year. These must be supplied by the 14th of July each year.

The payment summary should show each payee how much is paid to them in the financial year and how much is withheld from the payments.

 

PAYG (Pay As You Go) Withholding

Each pay period, tax will be taken from the employees pay and paid to the government on behalf of the employee. It is called PAYG Withholding. These payments include:

  • payments to employees, company directors and office holders
  • payments to workers under a labour-hire agreements
  • payments under voluntary agreements
  • payments where an Australian Business Number (ABN) has not been quoted in relation to a supply

  

Annual Employer Returns

At the end of the financial year, employers are required to submit tax information on their employees to the government. This is currently done using a PSAR file and used to be called the EMPDUPE

 

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Payment

Bank Accounts and Paying Salaries

Salaries can be made via direct credit to employee’s bank accounts, and payslips must be supplied within 1 working day of pay day, even if an employee is on leave.

 

Bonus Payments

If the commission, bonus or similar payment relates to work an employee performed in a single pay period (for example, a week, a fortnight or a month) the amount is added to all their other earnings for the current period. Withholding is then calculated using the standard PAYG withholding tax tables.

Read More: Is your company ready for Australia’s Single Touch Payroll?

Banking Industry

Local Information

Australia Public Holidays 2022

Public holidays can be different depending on the state or territory you’re in.  Below are the national Public Holidays:

Australian Capital Territory

HolidayDate
New Year’s Day1 January
Additional Holiday for New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Canberra Day14 March
Good Friday15 April
Easter Saturday16 April
Day following Good Friday17 April
Easter Monday18 April
Anzac Day25 April
Reconciliation Day30 May
Queen’s Birthday13 June
Labour Day3 October
Christmas Day25 December
Boxing Day26 December
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day27 December

New South Wales

HolidayDate
New Year’s Day1 January
Additional Holiday for New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Good Friday15 April
Easter Saturday16 April
Easter Sunday17 April
Easter Monday18 April
Anzac Day25 April
Queen’s Birthday13 June
Labour Day3 October
Christmas Day25 December
Boxing Day26 December
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day27 December

Northern Territory

HolidayDate
New Year’s Day1 January
Additional Holiday for New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Good Friday15 April
Easter Saturday16 April
Easter Monday18 April
Anzac Day25 April
May Day2 May
Queen’s Birthday13 June
Picnic Day1 August
Christmas Eve (from 7pm to midnight)24 December
Christmas Day25 December
Additional Public Holiday for Christmas Day26 December
Substitute Day for Boxing Day27 December
New Year’s Eve (from 7pm to midnight)31 December

 

Queensland

HolidayDate
New Year’s Day1 January
Additional Holiday for New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Good Friday15 April
The day after Good Friday16 April
Easter Sunday17 April
Easter Monday18 April
Anzac Day25 April
Labour Day2 May
Royal Queensland Show also known as Ekka Wednesday (Brisbane area only)10 August
Queen’s Birthday3 October
Christmas Eve (from 6pm to midnight)24 December
Christmas Day25 December
Boxing Day26 December
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day27 December

South Australia

HolidayDate
Substitute for New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Adelaide Cup Day (subject to proclamation)14 March
Good Friday15 April
Easter Saturday16 April
Easter Monday18 April
Anzac Day25 April
Queen’s Birthday13 June
Labour Day3 October
Christmas Eve (from 7pm to midnight)24 December
Christmas Day25 December
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day26 December
Boxing Day27 December
New Year’s Eve (from 7pm to midnight)31 December

Tasmania

HolidayDate
New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Royal Hobart Regatta (only observed in certain areas of the state)14 February
Eight Hours Day14 March
Good Friday15 April
Easter Monday18 April
Easter Tuesday – generally Public Service only19 April
Anzac Day25 April
Queen’s Birthday13 June
Recreation Day (all parts of the state which do not observe Royal Hobart Regatta)7 November
Christmas Day25 December
Boxing Day26 December
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day27 December

Victoria

HolidayDate
New Year’s Day1 January
Additional Holiday for New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Labour Day14 March
Good Friday15 April
Saturday before Easter Sunday16 April
Easter Sunday17 April
Easter Monday18 April
Anzac Day25 April
Queen’s Birthday13 June
Friday before AFL Grand Final (subject to AFL schedule)TBC
Melbourne Cup1 November
Christmas Day25 December
Boxing Day26 December
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day27 December

 

Western Australia

HolidayDate
New Year’s Day1 January
Additional Holiday for New Year’s Day3 January
Australia Day Holiday26 January
Labour Day7 March
Good Friday15 April
Easter Monday18 April
Anzac Day25 April
Western Australia Day6 June
Queen’s Birthday (Some regional areas hold on a different date)26 September
Christmas Day25 December
Boxing Day26 December
Additional public holiday for Christmas Day27 December

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