Company and Industry Research

To start your search for company information, it may be useful to consider what type of company are you looking for.

There are two main categories of companies in Australia: Public or Private.

For public companies, they are obliged to disclose their company information to the public and should have trade stocks or securities on an exchange.  You can search:

ASIC Connect on Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)     
- Basic, free online company information which includes registration date, status and current address.

ABN Lookup on Australian Business Register (ABR)  
- Free public view of the Australian companies with registered business number.  The ABN Lookup tools may assist with multiple searches to look up information of registered companies.

For private companies, or non-listed companies, it can be difficult to find company information because they are private ownership and no public stocks.  They are not obliged to disclose information to the public.  For larger private companies, some information may be available in company's website, a number of databases or news reports.

For other companies that are not fallen into the above two categories, you can check other resources.  

For Government, you can check IBISWorld company profiles or Analysis & Policy Observatory (APO).
For not-for-profit or charitable organization, you can check Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) or available databases.
For subsidiary or affiliated company, you can check its parent company. 

You can also find free online company information in Australia from the State Library of Victoria.   Free access after registration.