Company Compliance
3. Compliance Basics
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 05 Jul 2015
- Company compliance refers to the obligations placed on your company and the people within it to satisfy a number of laws, regulations, policies and guidelines.
- If you have set up a company in Australia you will primarily need to comply with the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). This law and its associated regulations cover your company’s compliance obligations in relation to:
- your business structure;
- directors duties;
- company secretarial duties; and
- whether you are required to lodge annual reports and financial statements.
- There are many other laws your company will need to comply with such as taxation law, work, health and safety laws and anti-discrimination to name but a few. In this Company Compliance Law Overview we are concerned only with the obligations imposed by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
- Your company's compliance with the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). ASIC is an independent Australian government body. Its regulatory mandate includes the enforcement and regulation of company and financial services laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors.
- In order to ensure that your company meets its legal obligations on an ongoing basis you may also wish to establish a company compliance program. A company compliance program is an internal process implemented in order to:
- identify and reduce the risk of breaching the requirements in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
- remedy any breach that may occur; and
- create a culture of compliance within the business such as ensuring that all office holders in the company understand how to undertake their role in compliance with the law and ASIC’s guidelines.
- Depending on the size and risk profile of your business different items will need to be included in your compliance program to ensure it is effective at achieving compliance throughout all levels of your business.
- A wealth of highly detailed compliance information can be found online at www.asic.gov.au.
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