Starting a business in Australia and the legal steps in order

Starting a business in Australia moves from idea to legal process at the point you begin trading, or preparing to trade. Before you take a booking, sign a lease, hire anyone or send an invoice, a set of registrations and documents needs to be in place. Order matters because each step unlocks the next: you need an ABN before you can register a business name or GST, and if you are incorporating, ASIC registers the company before the Australian Business Register issues your ABN.

When you finish this process you will hold an 11-digit ABN (and an ACN if you are a company), a registered business name if you trade under one, a GST registration if your turnover requires it, and the core documents that protect the venture: customer terms, a privacy position, employment paperwork and, where the brand matters, a trade mark application on file. Three assumptions cause the most trouble. Registering a business name does not give you exclusive rights to it. An ABN does not make you a company. And a trade mark application filed at launch will not be registered by launch; the fastest path still takes around seven months.

Before you begin: what to have ready

You can complete most of this process yourself online, but a few decisions have to be made first. Tick these off before you open any application form:

Business structure: sole trader, partnership, company or trust. This single decision determines which registers you touch, what you pay and how much personal liability you carry. It is the prerequisite that trips up the most founders.
Business name: a shortlist of names checked for availability on the ASIC business names register and IP Australia's TM Checker, because you cannot register a name already held as a business name or trade mark.
Identity and tax details: your tax file number and identification for every director, partner or trustee, because ASIC and the Australian Business Register verify who runs the business.
Turnover estimate: a realistic figure for the first 12 months, because it decides whether GST registration is compulsory.
Money for fees: the registration costs below are modest, but budget for them before you start.
An accountant: confirmation of the tax consequences of your structure is cheap insurance against an expensive mistake.

The legal steps, in the order they need to happen

Choose your structure first

The four common options are:

Sole trader: the simplest route. You register an ABN and trade in your own name, but you are personally liable for the business's debts and your income is taxed in your own hands.
Partnership: two or more people carrying on business together. Each partner is personally liable for the partnership's obligations, and a written partnership agreement is strongly advisable even though it is not mandatory.
Company: a separate legal entity with limited liability. It must be registered with ASIC and receives an ACN. It can adopt a constitution or rely on the replaceable rules in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). It carries ongoing obligations, including an annual review with ASIC, a separate tax return and duties on directors.
Trust: a trustee holds business assets for the benefit of beneficiaries, used mainly for asset protection and tax planning. A trust needs a formal trust deed and adds administrative complexity.

Your choice drives everything that follows, and changing it later is expensive: moving from sole trader to company down the track means transferring contracts, assets and employees into a new entity.

Apply for your ABN

The ABN is an 11-digit number that identifies your business to government and the community. You apply online through the Australian Business Register. You are entitled to an ABN if you are carrying on or starting an enterprise in Australia, and a company is entitled as of right. The application itself is free. If you are not entitled, the ABR can review your entitlement at any time, and applying when you do not qualify can carry serious consequences, so be honest about what the business actually does. You can apply for your ABN and register a business name in the same session through the Business Registration Service.

Register the company with ASIC, if incorporating

If a company is the right vehicle, registration happens through ASIC Connect. The application fee for a proprietary company with share capital was $611 from 1 July 2025, and ASIC indexes its fees each 1 July in line with CPI. Reserving a company name first costs around $62, but if you are ready to register immediately you can lodge directly and check availability during the application. The fee is not refunded if the application is rejected, so verify the name is available before you pay.

The company must have at least one director. It receives an ACN, which becomes part of its ABN when you apply. Once registered, a proprietary company pays an annual review fee each year, so factor that into your ongoing costs.

Register your business name with ASIC

You must register a business name if you trade under any name other than your own. You do not need one if you are a sole trader using your first name and surname and nothing else, a partnership using all partners' personal names, or a company using its registered company name.

Registration is national and runs through ASIC, at $47 for one year or $108 for three years. You need an ABN first, and confirmation usually arrives within two to five business days. You must display the business name wherever you trade and on invoices and other documents, alongside your ABN. ASIC sends a renewal reminder about 30 days before expiry, and if you do not renew, the name can be cancelled.

The common misconception is that registering a business name protects your brand. It does not. It stops others registering the identical name, but it does not stop similar names, and it does not protect you against using someone else's trade mark. Exclusive rights come from a trade mark, which is the step after next.

Register for GST and employer obligations

GST is a 10 per cent tax on most goods and services. You must register with the ATO once your GST turnover reaches $75,000 or more (the threshold for non-profits is higher), or when you expect to reach it:

GST: once registered you collect the tax and remit one-eleventh of each sale price to the ATO. You can also register voluntarily, for example to claim credits on business purchases.
PAYG withholding: if you employ staff, you withhold income tax from their wages and remit it to the ATO.
Superannuation: you must pay superannuation guarantee for eligible employees at 12 per cent from 1 July 2025, at least quarterly until 30 June 2026 and per payday after that.
Payroll tax: a state tax that may apply once wages pass your state's threshold, which your accountant can advise on.

Penalties apply if you fail to register for GST when you are required to, so track your turnover from day one rather than assuming you will stay under the threshold.

Check licences, permits and local approvals

Registration steps vary by industry and location. Food businesses, liquor sellers, builders, financial advisers and many other trades need specific licences, and councils can require approvals for premises use, signage or zoning. The licences and permits tool on business.gov.au filters requirements by industry and location, and is worth checking before you commit to premises or spend on a fit-out.

File for trade mark protection early

A trade mark is the way you secure exclusive rights to your brand. Applications go to IP Australia: a standard application costs $250 per class of goods or services using the picklist, and the TM Headstart pre-application service starts at $330. Examination typically takes three to four months, and the minimum time from filing to registration is about seven months, including a two-month window in which others can oppose your application.

That timeline is why you file early, before major marketing spend. If you launch first and file later, competitors can copy your branding in the gap, and if your mark turns out not to be registrable you face a rebrand while your customer base is growing. A registered trade mark lasts 10 years and is renewable.

Draft customer and supplier contracts before you sell

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL), which sits in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), applies to most businesses that sell to consumers. Section 18 of the ACL prohibits conduct that is misleading or deceptive in trade or commerce, which covers your advertising, pricing and claims. Consumer guarantees such as the guarantee of acceptable quality in s 54 cannot be contracted out of, so your refund policy must work with them rather than against them. And since the 2023 reforms, an unfair term in a standard form consumer or small business contract is void and can attract penalties under s 23 of the ACL.

In practical terms, have written customer terms covering scope, pricing, payment and refunds, and supplier agreements covering price, delivery, quality and who owns any intellectual property created. If you sell online, pair your terms with website terms of use.

Get privacy and employment documents ready before you collect data or hire

The Privacy Act and the Fair Work system both arrive before you might expect them.

On privacy, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) exempts small businesses with an annual turnover of $3 million or less, so many startups do not yet need a compliant privacy policy. But the exemption has exceptions, and some businesses are covered regardless of size, so it is worth confirming your position rather than assuming. If the Act applies to you, you must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, have a privacy policy, and notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and affected individuals when an eligible data breach occurs under s 26WL. Even if you are exempt, a privacy policy builds customer trust and is often required by payment providers and platforms.

On employment, every employee is entitled to the National Employment Standards (NES) under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), which set floors for hours, leave, notice and redundancy. Awards add industry-specific minimum pay and conditions, and neither a contract nor an award can undercut the NES. Before the first hire, have a written employment contract, give each new employee the Fair Work Information Statement, and be careful not to misclassify an employee as an independent contractor, which is prohibited as sham contracting. If you genuinely use contractors, a written contractor agreement that sets out the relationship is essential.

Where founders get held up

Trading before the registrations are done: Taking deposits or opening a shopfront under an unregistered name creates problems with suppliers, banks and customers. Do the registrations first.
Filing the trade mark late: The seven-month minimum means a launch without a filed application leaves the brand exposed exactly when it is most visible.
Registering for GST late: If turnover passes the threshold and you delay, the ATO can require backdated registration and penalties apply.
Calling an employee a contractor: Misclassification carries arrears of super and leave, plus penalties under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

When to bring in a lawyer, an accountant and a broker

None of this requires a lawyer for every business, but professional help pays for itself at specific points. A lawyer can advise on which structure fits your liability and tax position, draft or review a constitution and a shareholders agreement if you have co-founders, run trade mark searches and manage filings, and draft the customer terms, employment contracts and privacy policy that the registrations do not provide. A lawyer is also essential if you are buying into a franchise: the Franchising Code of Conduct, renewed on 1 April 2025, requires franchisors to give you a disclosure document before you sign, and the ACCC regulates the code. An accountant handles GST, PAYG, super and the company tax rate, and a broker can arrange public liability, professional indemnity and cyber insurance suited to your industry.

The decision that sets the pace for everything else

The structure choice made in week one determines the success of the whole launch sequence. It decides whether you register with ASIC or only with the Australian Business Register, whether you carry personal liability, how you are taxed, and how hard it is to bring in investors later. Every other step in this article assumes it. Choose it with advice, because unwinding a wrong structure means re-doing registrations, contracts and tax arrangements while the business is already running.

The sequence itself is straightforward once the structure is settled: apply for the ABN, register the company and business name, sort GST and employer obligations, check licences, file the trade mark, and put contracts, privacy and employment documents in place before the first customer or employee arrives. Most of it is online, none of it is expensive on its own, and each step builds on the last.