What are the duties of a company secretary?

This is not an essential role within a company. Should the company decide to appoint a secretary, this is at the discretion the company directors. An individual may assume the joint position of director and secretary.

A secretary must be at least 18 years of age and, if only one, must also reside within Australia.

It is commonplace for a secretary to be allocated administerial duties, including but not limited to, maintaining the register of company members and recording the minutes from meetings. There are additional statutory obligations, such as lodging any changes to the company structure or details with ASIC and making sure that the company has a registered place of business.

As with the position of director, the secretary owes a fiduciary duty to the company, ensuring that he/she always acts in the company’s best interests.

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Updated — Sep 6, 2018