2-week leniency to get director ID

However, many of those who have not yet signed on have criticised the online portal and the phone line that were overrun with more than 78,000 people applying for the ID on 29 November.

The ABRS had warned that directors who did not have their ID confirmed by 30 November faced a fine of $13,000.

On 30 November, ABRS registrar Chris Jordan said the service will take a “pragmatic compliance approach” to directors who are required to apply for a director ID by 30 November 2022, if they apply by 14 December 2022.

Over 1.8 million directors have now applied for their director and even with the 78,000 who applied on 29 November, Mr Jordan said around one in four company directors still had not completed the process.

“The ABRS will not apply compliance resources to determine whether individuals met their director ID obligations by 30 November 2022 if they apply for a director ID by 14 December 2022,” Mr Jordan said.

“Whilst penalties or offences can apply, the community can expect ABRS to take a reasonable approach to support people to apply.

“By applying for a director ID, you’re helping to protect the community from those doing the wrong thing, for example, illegal phoenix activity, which is estimated to cost the community up to $5 billion a year.”

The ID system was first introduced into law a few years ago and the looming deadline for all people under the Corporations Act has been known all year. A smaller number of people who run Indigenous entities covered by the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act have been given until November next year to get an ID. 

The ABRS, which is an entity of the Australian Tax Office, has previously defended its communication of the policy. It said it had communicated widely through information in annual electronic reminders, by going through accountants who work with company directors, and with a wider advertising campaign in November.

The ATO told ABC News that there was “quite a lot of traffic” on the website and phone lines currently and it was urging people to apply online if they could. About 90 per cent of people have signed up online.

“Applying over the phone takes some time,” an ATO spokesperson said.

“Whilst we’ve put on extra staff and are doing our best to answer everyone’s query as quickly as possible, we are currently experiencing high wait times on our phone lines.

“We recommend people have their identification ready if they need to call us, this will speed up the call.

“We also recommend that you don’t call us to check the status of your paper application. We will be in touch if we need anything from you.”