ASIC Restricts Public Access to Company Directors' Residential Addresses
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has moved to significantly restrict public access to the residential addresses of company directors. This decision, made following a formal request from Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, addresses:
"heightened safety and privacy concerns."
Immediate Implementation and Access
ASIC announced this significant change without prior notice or consultation. The commission has already removed director address information from company extracts purchased through its website. Furthermore, ASIC is currently consulting with third-party data providers to restrict their access to this sensitive information.
Access for "legitimate business and legal purposes" is intended to remain available. An ASIC spokesperson indicated that discussions would occur with data consumers to explain the changes and adjust processes accordingly. Notably, journalists will continue to have access to residential information via a special journalist portal.
Background and Advocacy
The move follows years of advocacy from groups representing company directors and secretaries, such as the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Governance Institute of Australia, who have consistently called for the removal of residential addresses from the public record.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers formally requested ASIC to take this action, citing "longstanding concerns about the availability of directors' personal information on ASIC business registers."
The Path Ahead: Legislative Changes
The current measure taken by ASIC does not completely remove director address information from the public record due to existing legal requirements for ASIC to make filed documents available.
However, Treasury is actively consulting on draft laws that propose to further restrict access to residential information and exact dates of birth. Under these proposed changes, access would be limited to specified users, including regulators, insolvency practitioners, banks, journalists, and lawyers.
The new ASIC chair, Sarah Court, will oversee both the ongoing implementation of these changes and broader efforts related to director information access.