For most of the companies in this situation right now, it has not happened overnight. There has been a letter, an email, or a phone call from an accountant or address provider giving some form of notice. But the practical effect can feel sudden, particularly if the notice period is short or the email arrived in a busy week and did not register until later.
Here is what you are actually required to do and in what order.
Understand what the legal requirement actually is
Every Australian company must have a registered office that is a physical street address in Australia, capable of receiving documents, with written consent from whoever occupies that address [Corporations Act 2001, s.142]. If your current provider has withdrawn consent, your registered office is no longer valid under the Corporations Act regardless of what ASIC's records currently show.
Find a replacement before you lodge anything
You cannot update your ASIC registered office to a blank or a placeholder. You need a genuine, compliant replacement address before you can lodge the change. From 1 July 2026, that replacement must also be provided by an AUSTRAC enrolled entity [AUSTRAC, austrac.gov.au]. Ask any prospective provider for their AUSTRAC enrolment number before you commit.
Confirm they will give you written occupier consent. This is a separate document from the enrolment confirmation and is the specific thing ASIC requires to validate your use of their address as your registered office.
Lodge the change with ASIC within 28 days
Once you have a new address confirmed, log into the ASIC company officeholder portal using your corporate key and lodge the change. The change must be lodged within 28 days of the date your previous registered office ceased to be valid [ASIC, asic.gov.au]. The late fee is $102 if you miss that window by up to a month and $428 if you miss it by more [ASIC, asic.gov.au].
Update the ABR separately
Your ABN address on the Australian Business Register is a different record from your ASIC registered office. Updating ASIC does not update the ABR. Log into the ABR via the Relationship Authorisation Manager and update your business address there separately, also within 28 days [ABR, abr.gov.au].
Update your public-facing material
Once the official registrations are updated, work through your website, invoice templates, and email signature. An address mismatch between your official registrations and your public-facing material looks careless to anyone who checks your details, even if nothing is technically wrong.
Space Penguin is AUSTRAC enrolled and provides virtual addresses in Sydney and Melbourne from $20 per month plus GST. Written occupier consent is included, setup takes minutes, and there is no lock-in contract. Visit spacepenguin.io/virtual-address to get your new registered office in place today.