Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsCompany may use available name or ACN
(1) A company may have as its name:
(a) an available name; or
(b) the expression "Australian Company Number" followed by the company's ACN.
The name must also include the words required by subsection (2) or (3).
Limited companies
(2) A limited public company must have the word "Limited" at the end of its name unless section 150 or 151 applies. A limited proprietary company must have the words "Proprietary Limited" at the end of its name.
Unlimited proprietary companies
(3) An unlimited proprietary company must have the word "Proprietary" at the end of its name.
No liability companies
(4) A no liability company must have the words "No Liability" at the end of its name.
Public companies with "Proprietary" included in their name
(5) A public company must not include the word "Proprietary" (or an abbreviation of it) in its name unless:
(a) it was a public company before 1 July 1998; and
(b) the word "Proprietary" (or an abbreviation of it) was included in its name before 1 July 1998.
(6) An offence based on subsection (2), (3), (4) or (5) is an offence of strict liability.
Note: For strict liability , see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code .