What ABN Lookup does

ABN Lookup is a free Australian Government digital service that provides public access to Australian Business Register (ABR) data. Hosted by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999, the service is the statutory public interface to ABR data owned and maintained by the Australian Taxation Office, with business names synchronized from ASIC. It enables users to verify whether an ABN is active or cancelled, identify entity type and GST registration status, view public ABR details, and retrieve historical trading names where available, without requiring login or registration. Primary user segments include the general public, businesses verifying suppliers or partners, accountants/tax agents/advisers running client verification, and hundreds of federal, state, and local government agencies accessing both public and non-public ABR fields.

Name

ABN Lookup

Legal name

ABN Lookup

Website

https://abr.business.gov.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Short description

ABN Lookup is a free Australian Government digital service providing public access to Australian Business Register data, enabling verification of ABN status, entity type, GST registration, and business names without login. It serves the public, businesses, tax professionals, and government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Business Information Services

NAICS

Credit Bureaus (561450), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Federal & Federally-Sponsored Credit Agencies (6111)

akta.pro primary industry

Account Verification & Ownership (AVS/AOV, micro-deposits, auth) (FSAGACAB)

Keywords

• Business registration lookup
• ABN validation services
• Government business registry
• Business identity verification
• Public business data

Headquarters

HQ city

Penrith

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Free Public Service: ABN Lookup is a free government service provided to the public under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999. No revenue is generated from this service as its primary purpose is to facilitate business dealings with the Australian Government.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

ABN Lookup is a free Australian Government digital service that provides public access to Australian Business Register data, allowing any user to search and view information on Australian Business Numbers (ABN), Australian Company Numbers (ACN), business names, trading names, entity types, GST registration status, and tax concession endorsements. It also exposes SOAP and HTTP web services for programmatic ABN validation and entity lookup, along with Excel-based bulk lookup tools and a bulk extract service for authorised government users.

Product overview

ABN Lookup is a free Australian government service providing public access to the Australian Business Register (ABR). The core offering consists of the ABN Lookup Website for manual searches and the ABN Lookup Web Services API for programmatic access. Supporting tools include the ABN Lookup Tool and Name Lookup Tool (Microsoft Excel add-ins for bulk operations), plus an ATO mobile app. Key search features include Advanced Search with filtering by location, DGR status, and charity concessions; Statistical Query for aggregate ABN data; and a Deductible Gift Recipients listing. The service provides information on ABN status, entity types, business/trading names, GST registration, and tax concession statuses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ABN Lookup Website Free public web interface at abr.business.gov.au for searching and viewing Australian Business Number (ABN) information including entity names, business names, trading names, GST status, ABN status, and tax concession endorsements. Used by individuals, businesses, accountants, and government agencies with no login required.
• ABN Lookup Web Services Programmatic SOAP, HTTP GET/POST, and JSONP web services that enable ABN/ABR validation, business entity lookup, name search, and form pre-fill capabilities for integration into third-party applications. Access requires free registration with a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) and supports filtering by postcode, state, entity type, charity status, GST registration, and active/cancelled status.
• ABN Lookup Tool (Excel) Microsoft Excel-based desktop application for performing bulk ABN and ACN lookups against the ABN Lookup database, retrieving current entity details and displaying results in spreadsheet format with macros enabled.
• Name Lookup Tool (Excel) Microsoft Excel-based tool for performing multiple business name searches simultaneously against the ABN Lookup database, pre-populated with government entity names for demonstration, designed for batch business name verification.
• Bulk Extract Service for extracting large volumes of ABN data for government agencies and authorised users who need non-public ABR data at scale for regulatory and operational purposes.
• ATO App Mobile application published by the Australian Taxation Office that includes ABN Lookup functionality for on-the-go business verification by individuals and advisers.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Department of Industry, Science and ResourcescoreOthersThe Department of Industry, Science and Resources hosts the ABN Lookup website and web services. They administer the ABN Lookup Web Services agreement and manage access registrations.
• Australian Taxation Office (ATO)coreOthersThe ATO maintains the official Australian Business Register (ABR) from which all ABN Lookup data is sourced. ABN Lookup is the public interface to ABR data.
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)coreTechnology or IntegrationASIC manages the national business names register. Business name registrations are automatically synchronized with the ABR and ABN Lookup. ASIC numbers (ACN, ARBN, ARSN, ARFN) are searchable through ABN Lookup.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ASIC Connect: Australian Securities and Investments Commission's public company and business names register. It is a sister Australian government registry covering overlapping corporate identity data (ACN, ARBN, ARSN, ARFN), and is explicitly integrated with ABN Lookup via ASIC-managed business name synchronisation.
• Companies House (UK): UK government's free public register of company information. Direct analogue providing free search, verification and bulk data download of corporate identity data for a national economy.
• Companies Register (New Zealand): New Zealand government's online company registry providing free public access to corporate identity and director data. Closely comparable in mandate, design and free-access model.
• OpenCorporates: Largest open database of companies and company officers worldwide, aggregating official registry data including the Australian ABR. Comparable function as a business identity lookup and verification platform, with global rather than national scope.
• SAM.gov: US federal government's free contractor and entity registration system, providing public verification of registered entities for procurement and compliance. Closest US federal analogue in function and free-access distribution model.

Broad incumbents

• Dun & Bradstreet: Global commercial provider of business identity, credit and supply-chain data. Uses public registry data (including ABR) as a foundation, layering proprietary analytics, monitoring and global coverage relevant to enterprise KYB.
• Creditsafe: Commercial business credit and identity data provider serving SMB and enterprise KYB use cases globally. Comparable as a commercial overlay on top of public registry sources.
• Bureau van Dijk (Moody's): Provider of standardised cross-border company information (Orbis, Catalist). Competes in the same commercial space of monetising registry-grade business identity data for institutional customers.

Emerging players

• IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search: US public register of tax-exempt entities offering free verification of nonprofit status, analogous to ABN Lookup's DGR listing and charity tax concession features.

Regional players

• ACRA (Singapore): Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, providing public company and business registry lookup. Comparable in function but serving a different national jurisdiction.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/abn-lookup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ABN Lookup