ASIC Historical Company Extract

Before entering into any business transaction, it's important to understand who you're dealing with. Whether you're investing in a company, lending funds, or handling a property or legal matter, having access to accurate and complete company information is essential.

An ASIC Historical Company Extract provides a detailed view of a company’s past, helping you verify its legitimacy, uncover potential risks, and make confident, well-informed decisions.

This guide explains what an ASIC Historical Company Extract is, who needs it, and how you can access one quickly and easily—especially through platforms like Landchecker that combine ASIC data with valuable property insights.

What is an ASIC Historical Company Extract?

When ordering an ASIC company extract, you can buy the current or the historical company extract.

The ASIC Historical Company Extract contains all information found in a Current Company Extract, along with any previous details relevant to the organisation type.

Although annual returns were discontinued on 1 July 2003, Historical Company Extracts will still display previously lodged returns.

What Information Does an ASIC Historical Company Extract Contain?

An ASIC historical company extract contains the following information:

Current and former organisation details

Current and former principal place of business and registered office

Current and former organisation officers, such as directors and secretaries

Current share structure

Current and former shareholders

Documents lodged with ASIC regarding the company

Current and former contact addresses for ASIC use only to correspond with the company

Who Needs an ASIC Historical Company Extract?

Many different professionals rely on historical company extracts as part of their due diligence process.

Whether you're assessing a business partner, preparing legal documents, or evaluating risk, having access to a company’s full history can make all the difference.

Here's how various roles benefit from this important document:
1. Investors & Buyers
If you're thinking about buying a business or investing in one, knowing its full history is essential. A historical extract gives you a clear view of past directors, ownership changes, and other details that could signal stability—or raise red flags. Skipping this step could mean walking into a deal blind, with no idea about past issues that might impact your investment.
2. Property Developers
Before entering into a partnership or acquiring land through a company, developers need to understand who they’re dealing with. A historical company extract can reveal any shifts in ownership, directorship, or business activity that might affect a project. Without this, developers risk working with companies that have hidden legal or financial troubles, which can lead to costly delays or complications down the track.
3. Property Lawyers & Conveyancers
Legal professionals rely on historical extracts to make sure the right company is involved in a deal and that the people signing documents have the authority to do so. It’s a vital part of due diligence. Not checking this could mean contracts are signed incorrectly or with the wrong entity, potentially causing legal disputes or invalidating a transaction.
4. Real Estate Agents
Agents dealing with commercial or high-value properties need to be confident that the companies involved are legitimate and stable. A historical extract helps confirm that. Without one, there's a chance of misrepresenting key information about a property’s ownership history, which could damage professional trust and lead to legal or financial risk for clients.
5. Creditors and Financial Institutions
Banks and lenders use historical extracts to get a fuller picture of a company's background before approving loans or credit. It helps them spot patterns like frequent changes in leadership or financial instability. Not having this information makes it harder to assess risk and can lead to lending decisions that result in default or financial loss.