Should Australia Adopt a Director Identification Number
(DIN) Requirement?
On 13 February 2019, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Registries
Modernisation and Other Measures) Bill 2019 was introduced to
the Australian Parliament (Amendment
Bill). The Amendment Bill proposed a director
identification number (DIN) requirement
as part of a suite of Government initiatives which attempt to
detect, deter and penalise phoenix activity. While the Amendment
Bill lapsed at dissolution on 11 April 2019, given the cost of
phoenixing on the Australian economy, it is relevant to question
whether the DIN requirement should be reconsidered by
Parliament.
What is phoenixing?
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Amendment Bill describes
phoenixing as "when the controllers of a company deliberately
avoid paying liabilities by shutting down an indebted company and
transferring its assets to another company". This has obvious
implications for the creditors and employees of the
