Industries and situations
Resident directors for your industry and situation
How the resident director rules play out for SaaS subsidiaries, mining, fintech, e-commerce, holding companies, and companies replacing a director.
The legal requirement does not change with the industry: section 201A of the Corporations Act requires every proprietary company to have at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia. What changes is the risk a director takes on, the information they need to see, and the other regulators who will look at the company.
A software subsidiary that employs a handful of engineers has payroll, superannuation and PAYG withholding obligations that can make directors personally liable if they go unpaid. A company in mining or resources may need foreign investment approval and carries environmental obligations. A fintech or crypto business sits close to the anti-money laundering regime. A holding company may never trade at all, but still has an annual review, a solvency resolution and a registered office to maintain.
The pages in this section explain what a resident director needs to know and do in each of these situations, including the urgent ones: a director who is about to resign, overdue ASIC fees, or a company at risk of deregistration. Each one links to the official sources it relies on.
Industries and situations 9 pages
- Industry
ASIC deregistration notice or strike-off: stopping it, and getting a company back
Got an ASIC notice that your company will be deregistered? How to stop a strike-off within 2 months, and how reinstatement via Form 581 or a court works.
- Industry
Crypto and fintech companies in Australia: AUSTRAC registration and your resident director
Crypto or fintech entering Australia: AUSTRAC VASP registration (formerly DCE), key personnel checks, the AFSL question and finding a resident director.
- Industry
Foreign-owned property and real estate companies in Australia
Foreign-owned property SPVs in Australia: FIRB rules by land type, state foreign purchaser duty and land tax surcharges, and what the director must track.
- Industry
Mining and resources companies with overseas owners
Resident director for a foreign-owned mining or exploration company in Australia: FIRB tenement thresholds, state tenement rules and board risks for juniors.
- Industry
Raising capital for an Australian startup when the founders live overseas
What foreign founders of Australian startups need to know about flip-ups, ESIC investor incentives, the resident director rule and investor expectations.
- Industry
Resident director for an Australian holding company with overseas owners
Australian holding company with overseas owners: why s201A still applies, the A$342 review fee, solvency resolutions, group size tests and tax points to raise.
- Industry
Running a foreign-owned e-commerce business in Australia
For overseas online retailers: selling direct versus through a local Pty Ltd, GST on low value imported goods, marketplaces and stock held in Australia.
- Industry
Setting up an Australian subsidiary for a SaaS or technology company
What an overseas software company should know before forming an Australian subsidiary: GST on digital services, intercompany licences and R&D tax offsets.
- Industry
Your resident director is leaving: replacing them, step by step
Your Australian resident director has resigned, moved overseas or gone quiet. What to check first and the order to replace them and fix the records.
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