Trading names in the ABR

The national Business Names Register was introduced in 2012 and is managed by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).

With the introduction of the national register, the Registrar of the Australian Business Register (ABR) stopped collecting and recording:

• business names registered for an entity under the old state or territory laws
• unregistered names used by entities for business purposes.

Trading names that were collected prior to 28 May 2012 will continue to be displayed on ABN Lookup but are only provided for historical reference with no legal status. They cannot be updated or relied upon for business identity.

To remove a trading name from ABN Lookup, you need to contact the ATO and ask to end date a trading name from ABN Lookup.

For more information, see:

• Section 25 of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999
• A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Regulations 2020

Do you need to register a business name?

A business name is the name your business operates under. You must register a business name if you run a business in Australia and are not trading under your own name

To register a business name, see the ASIC website's Register a business name.