By Elton Law Group
On 5 August 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched a refreshed Small Business Strategy. The strategy sets out how the regulator will support Australia’s more than 2.7 million small businesses through practical education, simpler interactions with ASIC, stronger engagement with industry, and targeted enforcement.
For small business owners and company directors, this deserves more than a passing glance. The strategy signals where ASIC will direct its attention over the coming years, both in the help it offers and in the conduct it intends to pursue.
Why ASIC is refreshing its approach
ASIC Chair Sarah Court framed the strategy around a simple premise: small businesses are vital to communities and the broader economy, and the regulator wants to make compliance easier for those doing the right thing while taking action against those who are not.
The strategy was informed by ASIC commissioned research, including a survey of 400 small business directors. The findings were telling. Most directors felt reasonably confident about their obligations, but many were far less certain about the consequences of getting things wrong, and they identified time pressures, regulatory complexity and the cost of professional advice as the main barriers to compliance.
In other words, ASIC recognises that most small business directors are not deliberately non-compliant. They are busy, stretched, and often do not discover what the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) actually requires of them until something has already gone wrong.
The four pillars of the strategy
The strategy is built around four areas of focus.
Educate
ASIC will provide clear, plain language guidance for directors at the moments that matter: considering becoming a director, understanding obligations once appointed, and responding to financial difficulty. The aim is to get the right information to directors at the right time so they can make informed decisions.
Simplify
ASIC has committed to improving the clarity, usability and accessibility of its registers, portals and digital services, and to simplifying the steps small businesses must take to meet their regulatory obligations. Anyone who has wrestled with ASIC’s registry systems will welcome this.
Engage and collaborate
ASIC will work with trusted advisers (accountants and lawyers among them), industry bodies, small business representatives and government partners to share insights, strengthen regulatory coordination and reduce unnecessary burden.
Protect and enforce
ASIC will take regulatory and enforcement action against directors whose misconduct harms those doing the right thing, with illegal phoenix activity and insolvent trading called out specifically. The regulator will also address harmful conduct by financial services and credit providers that negatively affects small businesses.
The Small Business Director Essentials hub
Alongside the strategy, ASIC launched a new Small Business Director Essentials hub, a free digital resource bringing together practical guidance, learning modules and tools in one place. It covers the full lifecycle of a company, from planning and incorporation through operating, restructuring and, where necessary, closing a company, and includes a director roadmap outlining obligations at each stage.
ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke noted that directors are juggling competing responsibilities in an increasingly complex environment. Close to half of the directors surveyed had used ASIC’s website for information about their obligations in the previous 12 months, so consolidating that guidance in one place makes sense.
Our view: the hub is a genuinely useful starting point, particularly for first time directors. It will lift baseline understanding, but it is general guidance. It is not a substitute for advice on your specific circumstances, especially where a company is in financial difficulty or a dispute is brewing.
Enforcement: phoenix activity and lender conduct in the spotlight
Education is only half the story. Ms Court was direct on the other half: ASIC will take action against companies and directors involved in illegal phoenix activity and other practices that undermine those doing the right thing.
Illegal phoenix activity typically involves stripping assets out of a company and transferring them to a new entity to avoid paying creditors, employees and the ATO, before liquidating the shell left behind. A 2018 PwC report prepared for the Phoenix Taskforce estimated the direct cost to the Australian economy at between $2.85 billion and $5.13 billion per year. Directors involved face serious consequences, including personal liability for creditor defeating dispositions, compensation orders and disqualification.
Just as significantly for our clients, the strategy commits ASIC to addressing harmful conduct by financial services and credit providers that affects small businesses. Small business borrowers, guarantors and the lenders who deal with them should expect continued regulatory attention on lending conduct.
What small business directors should do now
The practical takeaways are straightforward. Understand your core duties: care and diligence, good faith, not misusing your position or company information, and the duty to prevent insolvent trading under section 588G. Keep your ASIC records current, including registered details, your annual review and your director ID. If the company is showing signs of financial distress, act early: options such as safe harbour protection and small business restructuring reward directors who move quickly and take advice, and narrow sharply for those who wait. Finally, review your financing arrangements, guarantees and security documents so you know exactly what you have signed up to before a lender comes knocking.
How Elton Law Group can help
Elton Law Group is a Sydney based commercial law firm acting for small businesses, company directors and private lenders across banking and finance, corporate advisory, employment and regulatory matters. If you want to understand what ASIC’s refreshed strategy means for your company, or you are dealing with financial difficulty, a lending dispute or a regulator, contact us for practical, commercially grounded advice.