ASIC is short for the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. ASIC is the regulatory body that governs Australia's integrated corporate, markets, financial services and consumer credit regulation.

See http://asic.gov.au/about-asic/what-we-do/our-role/

ASIC Registers

Search ASIC registers at this link

ASIC is setup to oversee the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act), and carry out most of their work under the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act).

The Corporations Act 2001 is the principal legislation regulating companies in Australia. It regulates matters such as the formation and operation of companies (in conjunction with a constitution that may be adopted by a company), duties of officers, takeovers and fundraising.

What does this mean for small businesses?

ASIC is the regulator of all companies in Australia. It does not regulate trusts, partnerships, joint ventures (JV's), or sole traders. It only manages companies.

A company is any entity that is regulated by a constitution and has a registered Australian Company Number (ACN) with ASIC. An ACN is different to an ABN.

If a company is running a business, it must have an ACN and an ABN.

If a trust is running a business, it only needs an ABN, not an ACN - as it is not a company.

For Example:

ABN : 58606724656 - The Trustee for the Nine Advisory Unit Trust

ACN : 616 116 119 - NINE ADVISORY PTY LTD

In this case, Nine Advisory Pty Ltd runs the business, hence they are registered for ABN and ACN.