Changing your business or company name can be an exciting leap. You can find yourself thinking about things like redesigned logos, rebranding and new customers, but before that, you have to think about the steps required to officially change your name.

You cannot request to change the name of your existing business once it has already been registered under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). If you decide you want to trade under a new name, then you must register a new business application through the Australian Government Business Registration Service. If you choose to register a new business, you can cancel the existing registration through ASIC, however, the fees for a cancelled name will not be refunded.

If you’ve realised that a legitimate mistake has been made in your existing business name, then you can request for a correction to be made if there is a typographical error, the name of a place is incorrect, or the date of birth is incorrect. To support your correction request, you must provide evidence of the error, for example, a driver’s license or passport. You can request a correction through your ASIC Connect account.

If you have a company, which is a separate legal entity registered with ASIC, then you are able to change the name of your registered company without applying for a new company for a fee of $408. The new name you choose in this case is still subject to be rejected if it does not meet the following criteria:

• It cannot be identical to an existing company name.
• It must not contain any restricted words, e.g. consumer, bank or ANZAC, unless Ministerial or Public Authority consent has been granted.
• It cannot suggest a connection to the government or other organisations if the connection doesn’t exist.
• It must not be offensive to members of the public or suggest illegal activity.