The Startup Legal Checklist: What to Sort Before You Build Anything Else

Most first-time founders skip the legal setup until something goes wrong. By then it's expensive. Here is exactly what to sort — in order — before you write a single line of code or brief a single designer.

Legal setup is the part of starting a business that feels the least exciting and gets skipped the most. There is a product to build. A brand to create. Customers to find. The legal stuff feels administrative — something you can come back to.

That thinking is one of the most reliable ways to create an expensive problem.

The legal foundation of a startup is not complicated. It is a specific checklist of registrations, agreements and protections that take days to sort and years to regret skipping. The founders who do it properly at the start spend very little time on it. The founders who skip it can spend months — and significant money — fixing the

consequences.

Here is the complete startup legal checklist for Australian founders.

1. Choose Your Business Structure

This is the first legal decision and one of the most important. Your business structure affects your personal liability, how you are taxed, how you can raise investment and how equity is distributed.

Sole Trader The simplest structure. You are the business. Minimal setup, full personal liability. Suitable for solo operators testing an idea with low financial risk.

Partnership Two or more people sharing ownership. Relatively simple to set up. Each partner is personally liable for the business's debts — including debts created by the other partner. A partnership agreement is essential.

Company (Pty Ltd) A separate legal entity. Limited liability — your personal assets are generally protected from business debts. Required for most startups seeking investment. More complex and costly to set up and maintain, but worth it for most business models.

Trust Typically used for asset protection or family business structures. More complex. Worth discussing with an accountant if asset protection is a priority.

The Foundation & Legal cards in The StartUp Deck cover how to choose the right structure for your specific situation.

2. Register Your ABN

Your Australian Business Number is required for any business activity. You cannot invoice customers, register for GST or open a business bank account without one.

• Register at abr.gov.au — free and typically processed within minutes to a few days

• Your ABN is linked to your business structure — if you register as a company, the ABN belongs to the company, not to you personally

3. Register Your ACN (If Applicable)

If you are registering as a company, you will receive an Australian Company Number through ASIC when the company is registered. The ACN must appear on all official company documents.

• Register a company through ASIC at asic.gov.au

• Company registration has an annual fee

• A registered company must maintain a registered office address and keep proper records

4. Register Your Business Name

If you are trading under a name other than your own name (for sole traders) or your company's registered name, you must register it with ASIC.

• Check availability at abr.gov.au before registering

• Also check domain name availability and social media handle availability at the same time

• A registered business name does not give you trademark protection — those are separate

5. Register Your Trademark

A registered business name tells the government what you are trading as. A trademark gives you the legal right to use that name, logo or phrase exclusively in your industry.

• Register with IP Australia at ipaustralia.gov.au

• Register your business name and logo separately — they are different marks

• Check the trademark register before choosing a name — a name you have been using may already be registered by someone else in your industry

• Trademark registration takes several months to process — start early

This step is skipped more than almost any other. The consequences — receiving a cease and desist after you have built brand equity around a name you do not own — are among the most disruptive things that can happen to an early-stage startup.

6. Founder and Shareholder Agreements

If there are two or more people involved in the business, these documents are non-negotiable.

Founder Agreement 

Documents the equity split, roles and responsibilities, decision-making process and what happens if a founder leaves — before any of those situations arise. The time to negotiate these terms is in week one, when everyone is aligned and enthusiastic. Not in month eighteen, when a disagreement has already started.

Shareholder Agreement 

Governs how shares are issued, transferred and valued. What happens if a shareholder wants to sell. Pre-emption rights. Drag-along and tag-along provisions. Required before any outside investment is discussed.

These documents are not expensive to create with the help of a startup lawyer. The cost of not having them — when a co-founder dispute, exit or investment round arrives — is far higher.

7. Contractor and Employment Agreements

Before you engage anyone to work on the business — whether as a contractor, freelancer or employee — a written agreement must be in place.

Contractor Agreement 

Covers scope of work, payment terms, IP ownership (everything they create for you belongs to you, not them), confidentiality and dispute resolution. This last point — IP ownership — is the most critical. Without it, a contractor may own the code, design or content they created for your business.

Employment Agreement 

Governed by the Fair Work Act and the relevant Modern Award for the role. Your employment agreement must meet minimum standards — pay, hours, leave entitlements, notice periods.

8. Terms and Conditions

Your terms and conditions govern the relationship between your business and your customers. They set out what you offer, what the customer can expect, what happens when things go wrong and how disputes are resolved.

They must be in place before you take any money from a customer.

9. Privacy Policy

Under the Australian Privacy Act, any business that collects personal information — including website visitors' email addresses — must have a privacy policy explaining what data is collected, how it is used and how customers can access or correct their information.

This is a legal requirement, not a nice-to-have. It must be accessible on your website before you collect any data.

10. Intellectual Property Audit

Before you launch, audit what IP your business owns — or should own.

• Does your company own all the IP created during product development? (check your contractor agreements)

• Are all software, design and content assets created for the business owned by the business?

• Have you documented your trade secrets and proprietary processes?

• Are your trademarks registered?

IP is often one of the most valuable assets a startup owns. Losing it — to a contractor who was never properly contracted, or a co-founder whose agreement was never documented — is both preventable and devastating.

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If you liked this posts, then you will love these:

• The Ultimate Startup Toolkit — thestartupdeck.com/post/startup-toolkit

• The Complete Startup Checklist — thestartupdeck.com/post/startup-checklist

• How to Start a Business Checklist — thestartupdeck.com/post/how-to-start-a-business-checklist

• The Startup Finance Checklist — thestartupdeck.com/post/startup-finance-checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a lawyer to set up my business in Australia? 

For the basic registrations — ABN, business name, company registration — no. For founder agreements, shareholder agreements and contractor agreements, yes. A startup lawyer who has seen these agreements go wrong is worth their fee many times over.

What is the difference between a business name and a trademark? 

A business name registration tells ASIC what you are trading as. A trademark gives you exclusive rights to use that name, logo or phrase in your industry. You can have a registered business name with no trademark protection — which means someone else could register the same name as a trademark and force you to stop using it.

What happens if I do not have a founder agreement? 

If a co-founder leaves, disputes over equity, IP ownership and decision-making rights become very difficult to resolve without a documented agreement. Courts will look for evidence of intent, which is expensive and uncertain. The founder agreement prevents the dispute from becoming a legal matter in the first place.

When should I register for GST? 

You must register once your annual turnover exceeds $75,000. You can register voluntarily before that threshold — which makes sense if your customers are businesses that can claim the GST back, or if you want to avoid a registration gap when you cross the threshold.

Do I need a privacy policy if I only have a simple website? 

Yes. If your website collects any personal information — including an email address from a contact form or mailing list signup — you are required under the Australian Privacy Act to have a privacy policy. It must be accessible on the site before any data is collected.

What is the most important legal document for a startup with co-founders? 

The founder agreement. It documents the equity split, roles, decision-making process and what happens when a founder leaves — before any of those situations arise. It is the single most important document for preventing co-founder disputes from becoming existential business problems.

Stop Guessing. Start Building.

The legal foundation of a startup is a checklist. A specific, finite list of registrations, agreements and protections that takes days to complete properly and years to regret skipping.

Get Your Deck → thestartupdeck.com/products/the-startup-deck

$249.00 AUD | Limited Run | Ships Next Business Day | 30-Day Returns