Family Office in Australia: Rules, Costs and Tax in 2026

How is a family office licensed in Australia?

No family office licence or registration was found in Australian law or on ASIC's licensing pages. Section 911A(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 says a person who carries on a financial services business in Australia must hold an AFS licence, and ASIC lists financial services such as financial product advice, dealing, custodial services and operating a registered managed investment scheme; section 911A(2)(i) exempts a person who 'provides the service only to related bodies corporate of the person', and no exemption for family members or family trusts was found in section 911A. ASIC's pages and its licensing guide (RG 1, June 2025) do not mention family offices; Arnold Bloch Leibler (May 2025) says an AFS licence is required for family offices that provide financial services to non-related parties and that a subsidiary of a corporate trustee is not a related body corporate of the trustee company, so the exemption will not apply there. Neither section 911A nor the ASIC pages opened say whether managing money only for family members and family trusts is carrying on a financial services business. [1, 2, 3, 11]

Reported by the sources named, not confirmed by an official source.

What is the minimum wealth for a family office in Australia?

No minimum family wealth in the rules checked: the AFS licence requirement and its exemptions in section 911A of the Corporations Act 2001, including the exemption for services provided only to related bodies corporate, set no wealth or asset test, and ASIC's licensing guide (RG 1) names none. [1, 11]

Compare: Family Office Minimum Net Worth by Country

Who counts as family?

No definition of a family for a family office was found. The licensing exemption in section 911A(2)(i) covers services provided only to related bodies corporate, a corporate group concept that King & Wood Mallesons (March 2023) explains through the holding company and subsidiary test in section 50; no exemption for family members or family trusts was found in section 911A, and Arnold Bloch Leibler notes that even within groups under common control a subsidiary of a corporate trustee is not a related body corporate of the trustee company itself. [1, 3, 12]

Reported by the sources named, not confirmed by an official source.

Can one office serve several families?

No dedicated multi-family office licence was found. An office that carries on a business of providing financial services, such as financial product advice, dealing or custodial services, to clients other than its related bodies corporate needs an AFS licence from ASIC, and its obligations depend on whether clients are retail or wholesale (a client is retail unless classified as wholesale). ASIC registers managed investment schemes offered to retail clients, operating a registered scheme is itself a financial service that needs an AFS licence, and ASIC says managed discretionary account services generally fit both the managed investment scheme and the miscellaneous financial facility categories; Arnold Bloch Leibler says multi-family offices are usually companies, often needing an AFS licence, and that managed investment scheme rules must be considered for co-investments. [1, 2, 3, 11]

Which law and courts apply?

Australia is a federation whose courts apply common law and equity that came from England: a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales describes 'Anglo-Australian common law' and traces the court's common law and equity jurisdiction to Imperial legislation such as the Australian Courts Act 1828. Financial services licensing is federal (Corporations Act 2001, administered by ASIC) and so is income tax (ATO), while probate and family provision claims go to the state Supreme Courts (in New South Wales, the Equity Division) and duty on property transfers is a state tax. [1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 14]

What substance is required?

No office, staff or spending rule for a single family office was found. A proprietary company must have at least one director who normally lives in Australia, and a public company at least three directors, two of whom normally live in Australia, plus a secretary who normally lives in Australia; directors must have a director ID before they are appointed (ASIC). Arnold Bloch Leibler notes that a trust's residence depends on where the trustee is located. [3, 15]

Which holding vehicles are available?

Arnold Bloch Leibler (May 2025) lists proprietary companies, discretionary trusts (not subject to corporate tax rates; beneficiaries generally pay tax at their own marginal rates), unit trusts (fixed entitlements for beneficiaries), public companies limited by guarantee, partnerships and private ancillary funds for philanthropy, which must make annual distributions and be audited. ASIC lists operating a registered managed investment scheme and a corporate collective investment vehicle (CCIV) among financial services that need an AFS licence. Australian trusts can reduce a capital gain by 50% on assets held at least 12 months, while companies cannot use the CGT discount (ATO). [2, 3, 16]

Reported by the sources named, not confirmed by an official source.

What is the corporate tax rate?

Companies pay 30% unless they are base rate entities, which pay 25% from 2021-22 onwards; a base rate entity has aggregated turnover below AUD 50 million and no more than 80% of its assessable income as base rate entity passive income, so an investment company with more than 80% passive income pays 30% (ATO, updated 4 September 2026). Companies cannot use the 50% CGT discount. A company passes tax it has paid to shareholders as franking credits attached to dividends, up to a maximum set by its corporate tax rate for imputation purposes (30%, or 25% for a base rate entity). [6, 16, 17]

Are there tax incentives for family offices?

No tax regime for family offices or family investment companies was found in the ATO pages opened; a family company or trust pays the ordinary taxes set out above. Arnold Bloch Leibler (May 2025) says discretionary trusts are not subject to corporate tax rates, companies are subject to corporate tax and dividend franking rules, loans from a family company to shareholders risk Division 7A issues, and the ATO's High Wealth Private Groups Program targets individuals with net wealth exceeding AUD 50 million. [3, 6]

Reported by the sources named, not confirmed by an official source.

Is there personal income tax?

Australian residents pay income tax on income earned anywhere in the world: for 2026-27 the rates are nil up to AUD 18,200, then 15%, 30% and 37%, and 45% above AUD 190,000 (the 15% rate was 16% in 2025-26), plus the 2% Medicare levy, 47% at the top (our calculation). Individuals and Australian trusts reduce capital gains by 50% on assets held at least 12 months, but foreign and temporary residents cannot use the full discount for gains after 8 May 2012; temporary residents (a temporary visa, and neither they nor any spouse an Australian resident under the Social Security Act 1991) generally pay no Australian tax on foreign income except income from work or services performed overseas while a temporary resident, and pay capital gains tax only on taxable Australian property. From 1 July 2026, under Division 296 inserted by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Act 2026 (Royal Assent 13 March 2026), an extra 15% tax applies to the share of super earnings linked to a total super balance above AUD 3 million and a further 10% above AUD 10 million (thresholds for 2026-27, indexed from 2027-28), with first ATO assessments later in 2027-28. [5, 7, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21]

Compare: Countries With No Personal Income Tax

Is there inheritance or estate tax?

There is no inheritance or estate tax: the ATO says 'There are no inheritance or estate taxes in Australia.' When an asset passes to a beneficiary, the estate generally disregards any capital gain or loss, and the beneficiary may pay capital gains tax on a later sale; capital gains tax applies to the deceased at death if the asset passes to a tax-advantaged entity, such as a charity or certain super funds, or to a foreign resident (where the deceased was an Australian resident, the asset was acquired on or after 20 September 1985 and it is not taxable Australian property in the beneficiary's hands). Super is generally not part of the estate; the taxable component of a super lump sum death benefit is tax-free for dependants and taxed at up to 15% (taxed element) or 30% (untaxed element) plus the 2% Medicare levy for non-dependants. The Gift Duty Assessment Amendment Act 1978 limited Commonwealth gift duty to gifts made before 1 July 1979. Duty on property is a state tax: in New South Wales a transfer by the executor or administrator to a beneficiary under and in conformity with a will or an intestacy pays a fixed duty of AUD 100 since 1 February 2024 (AUD 50 before), instead of ordinary transfer duty. [4, 14, 22, 23, 24, 25]

Compare: Inheritance Tax by Country

How do wills and succession work?

There is no forced heirship: a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales writes that Australian law left behind the civil-law idea of fixed shares ('forced heirship') and recognises a person's right to dispose of property by will, subject to the court's power to provide for claimants, and that every state and territory has family provision laws, which are not uniform. In New South Wales (Succession Act 2006, Chapter 3) a spouse, de facto partner, child, former spouse, a dependent grandchild or member of the household, or a person in a close personal relationship with the deceased can apply to the Supreme Court within 12 months of the death (the court can extend this for sufficient cause), and the court can designate property outside the estate as notional estate, for example property transferred for less than full value within three years before death with the intention, wholly or partly, of denying or limiting provision for such claims. Arnold Bloch Leibler lists testamentary trusts, letters of wishes and binding death benefit nominations as planning tools. [3, 10, 13, 26]

Can the family get residence?

No investor visa is open: the Business Innovation and Investment Program (subclass 188, including the Significant Investor stream for people investing AUD 5 million, and subclass 132) closed permanently to new applications on 31 July 2024 according to the Home Affairs closure page (its 2024-25 Migration Program Report says subclass 188 closed on 1 July 2024); states and territories received no new BIIP nomination allocations in 2023-24 and 2024-25, and Home Affairs continues to process applications already lodged. The National Innovation visa (subclass 858), which replaced the Global Talent visa on 6 December 2024, is an invitation-only permanent visa for people with an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement; its target groups include entrepreneurs and 'innovative investors', but the Home Affairs pages opened give no investment amount. Applicants lodge an expression of interest (active for two years), must apply within 60 days of an invitation with a nominator's Form 1000, and who in the family can be included was not shown on the pages opened. [8, 9, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Compare: Residency by Investment by Country

How long does set-up take?

Not found in official sources. ASIC says a company is registered through the Business Registration Service and a confirmation email gives the company's ACN and certificate of registration, but gives no time. [31]

What are the official fees?

Not found in official sources: ASIC's fee pages (updated July 2026) list a fee for registering a company with share capital (Form 201) and an annual review fee for a proprietary company, but the amounts did not display (the pages show template placeholders), and ASIC says it increases some fees each year from 1 July in line with the increase in the Consumer Price Index for the March quarter. There is no family office licence fee; ASIC says an AFS licence application fee is payable on lodging but its guide (RG 1) gives no amount. [11, 32, 33, 34]