Tag: regulation

Director Identification Number (Director ID / DIN)

What is a Director Identification Number (DIN)?

The Director Identification Number (director ID) is a unique identifier that a director will apply for once but will stay with a director for life, offering greater identity security. You will need a director identification number if you’re a director of a company or a corporate trustee of a self-managed super fund (SMSF), registered Australian body, registered foreign company or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation. The objective is to prevent the use of false and fraudulent director identities.

How and when to apply for DIN?

Directors will be able to apply for a Director ID from November 2021 on the new Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) online at https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/apply-director-identification-number and log in using the myGovID app to complete the application process. Furthermore, they will need to provide proof of identity documentation to verify their identity. A director can choose to provide their tax file number when applying for a DIN, which should expedite the application.

myGovID is not the same as myGov. If you have provided identity information to set up a myGov account, you will have to do it again for a myGovId app.

Directors will need to apply for their director ID by themselves to verify their identity. No one can apply for it on their behalf. There is no fee to apply.

When will directors need to apply?

It is being phased in. When you need to have a director ID will depend on when you were appointed as a director. The table below illustrates this.

How director ID works?

A director ID is a 15-digit identifier given to a director (or someone who intends to become a director) who has verified their identity with ABRS.

Directors will only ever have one director ID. They’ll keep it forever even if they – change companies, stop being a director, change their name, move interstate or overseas.

Why you need a director ID?

All directors are required by law to verify their identity with ABRS before receiving a director ID. This is important because it will help to:

  • prevent the use of false or fraudulent director identities
  • make it easier for external administrators and regulators to trace directors’ relationships with companies over time
  • identify and eliminate director involvement in unlawful activity, such as illegal phoenix activity.

NSW Workers’ Comp changes

The NSW Government has announced a number of changes to workers compensation aimed at cutting red tape for employers and assisting injured workers access benefits.Under the amendments, from 30 June 2008, only employers with annual wages greater than $7,500 will be required to take out workers compensation insurance (except where an employer engages an apprentice or is a member of a Group of companies for workers compensation purposes).

A worker of an employer that is not required to hold a policy will still be covered for workers compensation and employers will still have the same obligations as they do now to provide assistance with injury management and return to work.

Currently in NSW, all employers regardless of the amount of wages paid are required to hold a workers compensation policy of insurance. This includes private householders employing domestic assistance such as nannies and employers who employ on a part time or intermittent basis. Many small businesses owners also hold a policy just in case they employ someone. This change will reduce the regulatory burden for these, the smallest of the state’s employers.

The changes will also extend the workers compensation insurance coverage to the nearly 2.5 million households in NSW.

If the worker of an employer that is not required to hold a policy is injured, the employer will be required to report the claim and pay a one-off fee of $175.

The changes further align New South Wales’ arrangements with those in place under the Victorian workers compensation system.

Another change which will assist employers is the simplification of workers compensation record keeping requirements, with a reduction of the period that wages records must be kept, from seven to five years. This change also aligns New South Wales’ workers compensation requirements with those of Victoria and the Australian Taxation Office for business records.

For more information and FAQ see Workcover NSW