Lower fees and less red tape for ACT Businesses under national scheme

A bill proposed to lower fees and cut red tape for ACT businesses has passed today in the Legislative Assembly, meaning that businesses will only need to register their business names once, Attorney General, Simon Corbell, said today.

"Under the Business Names Registration (Transition to Commonwealth) Act 2011 Canberra business owners will now only need to register their name once under an electronic national scheme," Mr Corbell said.

"Previously if a business operated in both the ACT and NSW it had to register in both states, however under this new bill, businesses will only need to register once as part of a national scheme, allowing them to trade in any jurisdiction.

"This bill will see reduced compliance costs for businesses owners, fewer restrictions on competition, and ensure consistency across the nation for business name requirements.

"Businesses will only need to make one registration and payment, regardless of how many jurisdictions they operate in. Proprietors will benefit from lower registration and renewal fees as well as the 24-hour online registration facility."

Mr Corbell said the main purpose of business name registration was to protect consumers, by allowing them to identify the people or companies behind a trading name.

"Consumer protection will also be improved by allowing consumers and traders to use the national register to identify and locate business names," he said.

"This is an important move which will align business names registration in the ACT with other states and territories under one piece of legislation."

The bill follows an agreement by the Council of Australian Governments to adopt the national business names registration scheme.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will administer the new national business names register with the scheme expected to commence May 2012.