Privacy statement – ABR transaction site
Collecting personal information
We may collect personal information directly from you or a third party if:
- you have consented
- we are authorised to do so under an Australian law
- you would reasonably expect us to collect the information in that way. For example, from an organisation of which you are a director or office bearer, or from publicly available sources.
We collect your personal information to administer the ABR and do this by:
- assessing entitlement to an Australian business number (ABN) and other taxation registrations
- verifying the identity of key individuals associated with the entity
- maintaining the integrity of the ABR to ensure records are current and accurate
- providing access to public data to verify core business identity and tax registration information eg whether an entity is registered for goods and services tax (GST)
- providing eligible government agencies with access to both public and non-public details held in the ABR.
We're also authorised by the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and by the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 (ABN Act) to ask for a tax file number (TFN) for identification purposes. You don't have to provide your TFN, but it will help us confirm your identity and complete your transactions with us faster.
Publicly available personal information
Publicly available information in the ABR is accessible by any member of the public via ABN Lookup, and may include historical details. Providing this information publicly allows users to verify your core business identity for taxation and other purposes.
The ABN Lookup web services allows any third party to integrate this information into their systems. The user can validate your ABN, pre-fill their own forms, or keep your ABR details current in their systems.
The ABR also provides your publicly available information to data.gov.au. Third parties accessing this service may utilise the data for any purpose, including commercial use.
ABN information which is publicly available includes:
- ABN
- ABN registration – status and date of effect and cancellation (see note) of the ABN registration
- Approved worker entitlement fund status (see note) – your status as a (trust) fund for employee long service leave, sick leave or redundancy payments
- Australian Company Number or Australian Registered Body Number (see note)
- Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) registration – status and date of effect (see note)
- deductible gift recipient – fund name, status and date/s of effect and cancellation (see note)
- entity legal name
- entity type – eg sole trader, superannuation fund, company, trust
- GST registration – status and date/s of effect and cancellation (see note)
- income tax exempt fund status (see note)
- postcode of the main business address
- registered business name
- Registrable Superannuation Entity (RSE) licensees status (see note)
- Registrable Superannuation Fund (RSF) status (see note)
- state of the main business address
- tax concession and/or charity status and date/s of effect and cancellation (see note)
- trading name
The collection of trading names ceased from 28 May 2012. Trading names collected prior won't be displayed in ABN Lookup starting 31 October 2025.
Personal information available to government agencies
In addition to publicly available information, we provide other personal information to federal, state, territory and local government agencies for the purposes authorised by their legislation to carry out the functions of their agency. Examples of possible uses include registration, reporting, compliance, and validation and updating of databases.
A full list of the ABR information available to government agencies can be accessed at Your business information on the ABR.
What to do if you think we have breached your privacy
If you're not satisfied with our decisions, services or actions regarding the privacy of your personal information, or access to it, you have the right to make a complaint. A complaint enables you to express dissatisfaction and seek a remedy to your situation.
We aim to acknowledge all complaints within three working days of receiving them. We will also work with you to resolve your complaint and will keep you informed about its progress.
If you're unable to resolve the issue with us, or if you're not satisfied with the way we've handled your complaint, the Australian Information Commissioner may be able to help you. You can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by visiting their website at OAIC.
Privacy concerns
Contact us if you have concerns about privacy. Alternatively, you can obtain further information from the Australian Information Commissioner website.