Legal obligations of directors of Australian companies
Updated at October, 2022
The legal obligations summarised below represent a non-exhaustive list of legal requirements which directors must comply with. As directors can become personally liable for decisions made in their capacity as director of a company, it is critical that directors understand all obligations imposed on them.
For more information regarding the establishment of an Australian company, please refer to our publication titled 'Guide for setting up a business in Australia'.
Appointment as a director
In Australia, every person from the age of 18 years or older who has not been disqualified from becoming a director of an Australian company may be appointed as a director of a company. Directors need not reside in Australia, however there is a requirement that at least one of a company’s directors reside in Australia.
In order to be appointed as a director, the director must sign a notice consenting in writing to be appointed as a director of the company. The director must also provide the company with certain personal information about themselves.
Director Identification Number (DIN)
The DIN has been introduced at the end of 2021. According to the DIN scheme, every director or future director of almost any type of Australian entity is required to apply for a DIN. The purpose of the application process is to verify the director’s identity. At the end, each director will receive a unique 15-digit number. Each director only has to apply once for the DIN. This means, the number ‘follows the director’ and it stays the same, regardless of whether the director changes companies or resigns and does not hold another director position for a while.
It is important to note that each director is personally responsible to apply for the DIN and that it is not a liability or obligation of the respective company. Not to apply for the DIN in time is a criminal offence under Australian law. The penalties can reach up to $1.1 million.
The deadline to lodge your application will depend on the date of the appointment as a director. Relevant point in time is the applicant’s first appointment as a director as long as they are currently still fulfilling that director position.
Date of appointment as a director |
Date you must apply for your DIN |
| on or before 31 October 2021 | by 30 November 2022 |
| between 1 November 2021 and 4 April 2022 | within 28 days of appointment |
| from 5 April 2022 | before appointment |
The application process can be lengthy and cumbersome for directors not living in Australia and is likely to take several weeks. We therefore recommend to start the application process early. Further information can be found on the government authority’s (ABRS) website. Alternatively please contact us so we can advise you further.
Resignation as a director
If no special circumstances apply, a director may resign from their directorship at any time by giving written notice to the company.
Fiduciary duties owed to a company
Once the director is appointed, the director owes various fiduciary duties to their company which, if breached, may lead to personal liability of the director including civil and criminal penalties and liability for damages.
The director must act in good faith, in the best interests of the company and for a proper purpose. This duty demands more than a general sense of honesty, it requires directors to exercise independent judgment in light of relevant facts, materials and other views when assessing the best interests of the company.
Importantly, a breach of this duty that involves fraud, dishonesty and even recklessness may attract criminal penalties. Please contact us if you require assistance.
A director must not make improper use of their position or information acquired through that position, to gain an advantage for themselves or any other person or to cause detriment to the company.
A director’s improper use of their position may arise irrespective of whether the director intended the impropriety to have a certain outcome.
Additionally, where a director uses information acquired because of their position for their own benefit instead of for the benefit of the company, a breach of this duty is likely.
All directors must disclose all material of personal interests that the directors have in relation to the affairs of the company. All directors must, as soon as they become aware of a conflict of interest, notify the board of such conflict.
Directors of proprietary companies, however, need not give notice as to the conflict, provided the other directors are fully aware of the nature and extent of the director’s conflicting interests.
The necessary procedures to follow when dealing with conflicts of interest depend on the circumstances and usually require specialist advice. In some instances, it may be appropriate for a director to disclose a conflict and refrain from voting on the issue, while in other instances, the director’s resignation may be required.
Similar to the duty to disclose material personal interests, a director has a duty not to take advantage of a corporate opportunity for personal gain and at the expense of the company.
Only where such an opportunity is properly considered and rejected by the company can a director pursue the opportunity personally, pending the necessary disclosure requirements.
A director is required to discharge their duties with the same degree of care and diligence that a reasonable person in a similar position would exercise. Factors such as the size of the company and experience, position and responsibilities of the director are taken into account in establishing this objective standard of care.
A director may not be liable for breach of the duty to exercise care and diligence if the director:
- made the decision in good faith for a proper purpose;
- rationally believed the decision was in the best interests of the company after having made all reasonable inquiries necessary to inform themselves about the subject matter of the decision; and
- made the decision while having had no personal interest in the matter.
Once appointed, and for as long as the director is appointed, a director owes the following duties to third parties which, if breached, may lead to personal liability of the director.
Each director has a duty to prevent the company from trading while insolvent and also to prevent the company from trading in a way that will make it insolvent.
When a company debt is incurred, if a director is aware that, or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the company is or may become unable to pay its debts as and when they fall due, the director will be in breach of this duty. The director may become personally liable for the debt and/or be ordered to pay compensation to the company or its creditors.
A director will be deemed to have been aware of the company’s insolvency if a reasonable person in the position of the director would have been so aware.
Other than being ill or otherwise incapacitated, a director will only have a defence if they can demonstrate there were reasonable grounds on which to expect the company was, and would remain, solvent.
Each director is required to ensure the company prepares a financial report and a directors’ report each financial year.
While small proprietary companies may be exempt from lodging all the information required of larger companies, each director must inform themselves of accounting and recording obligations. Specialist accounting advice is usually necessary.
Vicarious liability
A director may personally become liable in certain circumstances for breaches of the law by the company. If the director was a director of the company at the time the company breached the law in question such liability is called ‘vicarious liability’. The following lists some of the instances where directors of Australian companies may personally become liable if the company they are a director of breaches certain laws.
Competition and Consumer Act
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) affects almost every aspect of the day to day running of a company and regulates areas such as product liability, consumer protection and competition policy.
Depending on the circumstances, where a company has contravened a provision of the CCA, directors of that company may be found to be personally liable.
Penalties for breaches of the CCA may be millions of dollars and/or jail, depending on the circumstances.
Occupational health and safety laws
Each Australian State and Territory has work health and safety (WHS) legislation which imposes certain obligations on companies with employees. It is typically required that all companies with employees ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees, contractors and other persons. Breaches of the relevant WHS Act attract large fines.
In some States, where a company violates one of the WHS Acts, directors will be deemed to also be in breach of the WHS Acts, unless they are able to satisfy a court that the director could not influence relevant conduct of the company or the director used all due diligence to prevent the contravention by the company.
Directors can protect themselves by:
- exercising and showing due diligence in fulfilling their roles (demonstrate obligations are identified and responsibilities allocated);
- having a proper basis for believing that WHS is being properly attended to by appropriate people (reporting, auditing and accountability); and
- having an understanding of WHS and information to be able to do this.
Environmental protection laws
All Australian States and Territories have enacted environmental protection legislation. Serious offences, like the disposal of waste without lawful authority, causing leakage or spillage of a harmful substance and emission of ozone depleting substances can carry penalties of in excess of AU$1 million for a company.
Where an offence is proved against a company, the directors of the company risk being held liable for the ancillary offence of aiding, abetting, attempting or conspiring to commit such an offence, which attracts sensitive fines and potential imprisonment.
Where a company has a supervised and effectively implemented environmental compliance program in place at the time of a pollution offence, evidence of the program and its implementation may mitigate the risk of penalty if the company and/or its directors are successfully prosecuted.
Taxation
Directors may be prosecuted personally for tax offences committed by the company. It is a defence to liability if the director can prove that they did not aid, abet, counsel or procure the act or omission of the company and was not in any way knowingly involved in or a party to that act or omission.
As a matter of policy, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will usually prosecute the company rather than the individuals who manage it. However, this may not be the case where the company has insufficient assets, where the directors were deliberately using the company to defeat the operation of tax laws or where the company has already been prosecuted for a tax offence and it is apparent that the prosecution has not deterred the company from re-offending.
If a company fails to provide to the ATO certain tax instalment deductions, the directors may be personally liable for an amount equal to the unremitted or unpaid amounts. A director may be personally liable for director penalties. The ATO generally gives the director 14 days to respond to a penalty notice.
When a penalty notice is issued, directors have four options to avoid personal liability. Directors can:
- have the company pay the amount owing to the tax department;
- enter into a payment agreement with respect to the amount owing to the tax department;
- appoint a voluntary administrator to the company; or
- appoint a liquidator to the company.
Failure to do one of the above things within the 14 day notice period will result in each director automatically incurring a penalty equal to the company’s outstanding tax liability.
Superannuation
All employers in Australia (such as a company) must provide a minimum level of superannuation each quarter for each employee. If the employer fails to provide that minimum level of superannuation, the employer will be liable to pay the superannuation guarantee charge.
Directors of companies that employ staff may be personally liable for an amount equal to the superannuation guarantee charge that the company owes.
Practical tips for directors
Steps to limit liability
Directors should try to take the following steps in order to limit their potential exposure to personal liability:
- obtain proper advice in respect of the primary legislation that applies to the activities of the company and the obligations that are imposed by the legislation on both the company and the directors; and
- ensure that proper procedures exist and are followed in order to minimise the risk of the company breaching any of its liabilities to minimise the risk of the directors becoming vicarious liable.
Protections to be obtained from the company
To protect themselves from potential personal liability, a director should consider the following:
- require the relevant company to obtain Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance (D&O Insurance) to provide some protection to the director. Due to the general rule prohibiting individuals from insuring themselves against criminal allegations, the coverage of D&O Insurance is not unlimited and will not cover certain conduct of the director (for example, breaches of duties owed to the company and conduct in bad faith).
- require the relevant company to indemnify the director for any loss suffered by the director in connection with acting as a director for the company. Such an indemnity may be set out in the constitution of the company or in a separate Deed of Indemnity and Access.
Please contact us to discuss these matters further.
Contact
Oliver Jankowsky
Partner & Head of International Practice
Oliver is a corporate and commercial lawyer, with particular expertise in advising foreign clients on cross-border transactions.
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