The ABR explained
The Australian Business Register (ABR) stores business and organisation details. Our purpose is to verify business information for the community and government.
This information is categorised into two types:
- public information – available to anyone. This information can be viewed via ABN Lookup.
- non-public information – available to the ABN holder, their authorised contact and eligible government agencies.
Under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999, the Registrar is responsible for the administration of the ABR. This includes registration and maintenance of ABNs and a range of activities to maintain the ABR integrity.
Each year, we release an annual report to inform parliament, stakeholders and the community about how we have administered the ABR program.
From 2015–16 onwards, the ABR annual report was merged into the Australian Taxation Office's annual report. For information on reports from previous years, contact us in writing.
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