National business names registration scheme

Commonwealth, State and Territory Small Business Ministers have agreed in-principle to a national business names initiative which will establish a one-stop online shop for businesses to apply and pay for a national business name online through a single application covering both a business name and Australian Business Number (ABN).

To register a business name nationally at present, businesses have to apply separately in each State and Territory and pay a fee eight times at a total cost of around $900.

The new system will be much cheaper and quicker, enabling a single registration for a single fee.

Those businesses that want to register a name in a single State or Territory will still be able to do so within the national system.