Thanks for the post Kelly, just my info on this, I'm not sure I'm right but I didn't think it was a legal requirement and I thought not having one just affects your tax rates if you deal with other businesses that do.. but I may be wrong though.
The link is broken, so taken down.
Also I am fairly sure though that even if you aren't trading, as soon as you get an ABN you are required to lodge activity statements with the ATO on a regular basis or you can be penalised for late lodgement. A penalty for late lodgement can be refunded in some cases but it just means you have to be organised with them like any business operator. So if you do apply for an ABN online, my advice is to find out about your activity statement requirements.
Sorry to impose on your thread, I'll go and play with the others now
