Agency access to non-public ABR data
Australian Business Register (ABR) data can be provided to eligible government agencies under Section 30(3) (c) of A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 (ABN Act).
To access non-public data, government agencies are required to follow three steps.
Step 1 – Determine eligibility
An agency is defined as one of the below:
Commonwealth agencies
- an agency within the meaning of the Public Service Act (1999)
- a non-corporate Commonwealth entity within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
State and Territory agencies
- a Department of State of a State or Territory
- a body established for a public purpose by or under a law of a State or Territory.
Local agencies
- a body established for a public purpose by or under a law of a state or territory (including a local governing body).
Step 2 – Request access to ABR data
Agencies are required to email abrenquiries@ato.gov.au and provide details including:
- agency contact details
- the agency's ABN and
- agency type
Additional supporting information may be required to assess an agency’s eligibility before they can be given access to non-public data.
Step 3 – Complete and submit Partnership Agreement
If the agency meets the requirements of eligibility, a Partnership Agreement will be sent to them for completion.
The Partnership Agreement provides information about the provision, security and disclosure of ABR information.
Agencies need to indicate at least one of their functions where they would be able to use non-public data and have their agency head sign and date the form before returning it to the ABR.
Once all information is received an ABR representative will contact you to confirm your access.
Responsible use of non-public ABR data
It is important that ABR data is protected and its integrity maintained. Agencies receiving and using data have an obligation to:
- ensure that access to data is restricted for the purposes of the functions of the agency as described in the Partnership Agreement
- comply with the Australian Government Protective Security Policy and the Australian Government Information Security Manual as data is classified as For Official Use Only
- tell us of any breach that results in the data being used inappropriately.
Before using data, be familiar with the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 (ABN Act) and relevant privacy laws to your agency.
If you are considering providing ABR protected data to third parties who provide services to you – for example, data analysis or mailing services – be sure that doing so is lawful, that they maintain the security and privacy of the data and that they use, store and dispose of the data appropriately.