A company secretary in Australia is a person that is qualified to complete certain managerial tasks that are necessary for any legal entity. The company secretary is required for most company types that can be registered here.
The role of a company secretary in Australia can vary depending on the company type. For a public company, is it mandatory that the company secretary is a resident of this country. It is also necessary to have at least 1 secretary for this legal entity.
Considering that the requirements can vary based on the business form, you can rely on our team of consultants in company formation in Australia for in-depth information.
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What company types need a company secretary in Australia?
The obligation to appoint a company secretary in Australia is imposed to public companies, which must appoint minimum 1 person for this corporate position.
In the case of private companies, there isn’t any legal obligation concerning the appointment of secretaries, but the company is allowed to appoint a person, if this is required. If the company chooses this option, the person should also be a resident of Australia.
It is also mandatory for the company secretary to be a natural person.
What is the role of a company secretary in Australia?
A company secretary in Australia has a wide range of responsibilities. The person needs to know how to handle a set of managerial activities and how and when to report on certain corporate matters. Therefore, the company secretary qualifications in Australia are multiple.
In the list below, you can discover few important matters:
- the role of a company secretary in Australia is prescribed by the Corporations Act 2001;
- a company secretary is usually paid for this activity with $75,220 (the average annual national salary);
- this job can only be completed by a natural person who has a minimum age of 18 years old;
- the company secretary in Australia is appointed by the directors of the company, who must notify Australian Securities &Investment Commission (ASIC) about the appointment in maximum 28 days;
- if the person leaves the job, regardless of the reason, ASIC must be notified on the resignation in 28 days as well.
The company secretary is required to act in good faith and with diligence, and to best represent the interests of the company that has hired the person. With regards to the daily tasks of a company secretary, some of them are presented below:
- the person needs to record in the company’s minutes the matters discussed during business meetings;
- confirm business meetings established by the company’s directors;
- make sure the that company’s policies and procedures are implemented as per the internal rules of the company;
- preparing reports and send them to the interested parties;
- make sure that the company’s documents are well maintained.
These are just some of the responsibilities of a company secretary. In the last years, the tasks developed by secretaries have increased and in practice, in larger companies, the company secretaries have even more task to handle.
Therefore, the company secretary qualifications in Australia have become more complex. If you want to learn more about this, our consultants in company registration in Australia can help you.
You can rely on us if you want to open a company here or if you want to start a business through a shelf company in Australia.
There aren’t any relevant differences between the process of opening a company in Australia through the standard incorporation procedure and the shelf company.
The only difference is that the shelf company in Australia has already been incorporated and it can be purchased. This is recommended for investors who want to start their business activities as soon as possible.
For any other details, we invite you to contact our team of specialists in company formation in Australia.