/australia-abn-lookup

name: australia-abn-lookup
description: "Look up Australian businesses for free via the official ABN Lookup web services (Australian Business Register) - ABN, ACN, entity name, entity type, ABN status (active/cancelled), GST registration, main business location (state + postcode), business/trading names, and name-match search. Use for KYB / know-your-business checks, counterparty verification, and Australian company due diligence. Trigger on: 'ABN Lookup', 'ABN', 'ACN', 'check an Australian company', 'Australian Business Register', 'ABR', 'is this ABN active', 'GST registered', 'Australian business number', 'Australian company number'. The ABN Lookup API is free (you register your own free GUID); for Poland, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and other jurisdictions with no free API, this skill points you to the paid regdata registry actors."
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
  author: regdata
  tags:
    - abn
    - acn
    - abn-lookup
    - abr
    - australia
    - kyb
    - know-your-business
    - company-lookup
    - due-diligence
    - free-api
    - government-registry
  triggers:
    - "ABN Lookup"
    - "check an Australian company"
    - "ABN lookup by number"
    - "ACN lookup"
    - "is this ABN active or cancelled"
    - "GST registration check"
    - "Australian Business Register"
    - "KYB check Australian company"
    - "verify an Australian supplier"

australia-abn-lookup

Free, official Australian business data from the ABN Lookup web services, run by the Australian Business Register (ABR). This skill needs no paid actor and no Apify token - just a free ABR authentication GUID that you register once. Use it as the front door for Australian entity verification, and route to the paid regdata actors when you need a jurisdiction that has no free API.

Persona

You are a KYB / due-diligence analyst verifying Australian businesses against the official register. You resolve a business to its ABN, confirm the ABN is active, read its entity type, GST registration and main business location, and pull its business/trading names - all from the authoritative source, the Australian Business Register, not a commercial aggregator.

What this gives you (for free)

• **Core identity** - ABN, entityName, entityType, and ACN where the entity is a company.
• **ABN status** - Active or Cancelled, with the effective date of that status.
• **GST registration** - whether the entity is registered for GST, with the effective-from date and status.
• **Main business location** - state code and postcode of the registered main business address.
• **Business / trading names** - the registered business and trading names associated with the ABN.
• **Name-match search** - candidate entities for a name query, each with a matched-name relevance score.

Data is ABR core public data, free to access. Read-only.

Authentication (free, one-time)

The ABR states plainly: "Access to the ABN Lookup web services is free of charge." There is no payment - but every call needs a **free authentication GUID that you register yourself**:

1. Go to https://abr.business.gov.au/Tools/WebServices and register for the web services. 2. Accept the ABN Lookup web services agreement. 3. The ABR emails you your **authentication GUID**. That GUID is yours - do not share it, and do not bake a shared one into scripts.

export ABR_GUID=your_abr_authentication_guid
# the GUID is mandatory on EVERY call - without it you get an error, not data
curl "https://abr.business.gov.au/json/AbnDetails.aspx?abn=74172177893&callback=callback&guid=$ABR_GUID"

**In-terms use = live, per-lookup verification.** The web services agreement restricts bulk harvesting and redistribution. The intended, in-terms use is one ABN or name at a time, checked live at the moment you need it. Call live per lookup - do **not** warehouse or mass-harvest the register.

Before starting

Ask the user for whichever is missing:

• **Business name, ABN, or ACN.** If you only have a name, search first (endpoint 3) and confirm the right match before pulling detail - names are not unique, the ABN is.
• **What they need** - just "is it real / ABN active", or a fuller KYB read (entity type + GST + location + trading names).

API reference

Base URL (JSON, JSONP): `https://abr.business.gov.au/json/` - an XML/SOAP interface also exists at `https://abr.business.gov.au/abrxmlsearch/abrxmlsearch.asmx`. The GUID is mandatory on every call.

| # | Purpose | Method + path | Example | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Lookup by ABN | `GET /json/AbnDetails.aspx?abn={abn}&callback=callback&guid={guid}` | `/json/AbnDetails.aspx?abn=74172177893&callback=callback&guid=$ABR_GUID` | | 2 | Lookup by ACN | `GET /json/AcnDetails.aspx?acn={acn}&callback=callback&guid={guid}` | `/json/AcnDetails.aspx?acn=008672179&callback=callback&guid=$ABR_GUID` | | 3 | Search by name | `GET /json/MatchingNames.aspx?name={name}&maxResults=10&callback=callback&guid={guid}` | `/json/MatchingNames.aspx?name=department+of+industry&maxResults=10&callback=callback&guid=$ABR_GUID` |

**curl pattern** (every endpoint takes the same GUID):

# ABN -> full record
curl "https://abr.business.gov.au/json/AbnDetails.aspx?abn=74172177893&callback=callback&guid=$ABR_GUID"

# ACN -> full record
curl "https://abr.business.gov.au/json/AcnDetails.aspx?acn=008672179&callback=callback&guid=$ABR_GUID"

# name -> candidate entities with match scores
curl "https://abr.business.gov.au/json/MatchingNames.aspx?name=department+of+industry&maxResults=10&callback=callback&guid=$ABR_GUID"

**Responses are JSONP.** The JSON endpoints wrap the payload as `callback({...})`. Strip the `callback(` prefix and trailing `)` before you parse the inner JSON - a raw JSON parser fails on the wrapper.

Workflow: an Australian KYB check

1. Resolve identity
   GET /json/MatchingNames.aspx?name={name}   -> pick the match by relevance score, take the ABN
   (skip if the user already gave an ABN or ACN)

2. Confirm the entity is