E-invoicing in Australia:
Peppol, PINT A-NZ and current requirements

Last update: 2026, September 14

Summary

E-invoicing in Australia is not currently mandatory for most businesses. Australia uses the Peppol network for structured e-invoicing, with PINT A-NZ as the applicable electronic invoice format. The Australian Taxation Office acts as the country’s Peppol Authority and promotes adoption across government and business.

B2G Transactions

Mandatory e-invoicing reception for many public administrations, voluntary for suppliers

E-invoicing is accepted by many public entities, especially in New South Wales, South Australia and by Commonwealth agencies, using the Peppol network, in Peppol PINT A-NZ format.

B2B Transactions

No e-invoicing obligation

No e-invoicing or e-reporting obligation applies to business-to-business transactions in Australia, but e-invoicing is possible upon mutual agreement between trading partners.

B2C Transactions

No e-invoicing obligation

No e-invoicing or e-reporting obligation applies to business-to-consumer transactions in Australia.

What the Law Says

B2G E-Invoicing

Australia does not impose a general B2G e-invoicing mandate on suppliers.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Australia’s Tax Authority, has promoted the Peppol network for several years to encourage public entities to adopt e-invoicing.

Commonwealth Government agencies are required to be able to receive e-invoices through the Peppol network. Agencies that receive eligible e-invoices must pay them within five days, regardless of value [↗︎].

This does not create a general obligation for suppliers to issue e-invoices: suppliers may still use any other invoicing method accepted by the relevant public entity.

Outside the Commonwealth framework, many other public entities can receive Peppol invoices, although adoption varies across state and local government bodies, with New South Wales and South Australia among the most advanced jurisdictions.

For Peppol e-invoices, PINT A-NZ is the applicable invoice format. The ATO also maintains comprehensive lists of e-invoicing-enabled Australian agencies [↗︎].

The ATO also plans to consult on making e-invoicing the default channel for supplier invoices received by government [↗︎], but no concrete measure or implementation date has been discussed yet.

Other invoicing methods remain common, depending on the public entity’s requirements:

Paper invoices
PDF invoices sent by email

Generally, invoices must be archived for five years.

B2B E-Invoicing

B2B e-invoicing is voluntary in Australia.

Businesses may agree to exchange invoices in any format accepted by both parties, including:

Paper invoices
PDF invoices sent by email
EDI (such as the EDIFACT format, widely used in established B2B supply chains)
Structured e-invoices through Peppol

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Australia’s Tax Authority, promotes the Peppol network as the national framework for e-invoicing, in accordance with the PINT A-NZ format, the applicable invoice format for Peppol e-invoices in Australia.

The Government has also considered introducing a Business E-Invoicing Right (BER). The goal of the BER initiative is to allow companies to require any of their customers or suppliers to move to e-invoicing via Peppol. However, the initiative has not been implemented yet, and creates no current obligation for businesses.

Generally, invoices must be archived for five years.

B2C E-Invoicing

Australia does not have a B2C e-invoicing or e-reporting mandate.

The Peppol e-invoicing framework does not apply to transactions between businesses and consumers.

Businesses may continue to issue business-to-consumer invoices and receipts through their usual channels, including paper invoices, PDF invoices sent by email, and printed receipts.

Timeline

Start of the B2G e-invoicing initiative

First Australian public entities start accepting e-invoices via the Peppol network

First B2G e-invoicing reception obligation

First Australian Commonwealth public entities are required to be able to receive Peppol e-invoices.

Peppol PINT A-NZ becomes the new standard

All B2G & B2B e-invoices exchanged via the Peppol network must adopt the PINT A-NZ format.

The former Peppol BIS 3.0 becomes deprecated.

B2G e-invoicing by default under consideration

The Australian Government is developing policy options to make e-invoicing the default channel for supplier invoices received by government. No implementation date has been announced.

2019

Jul 1, 2021

May 15, 2025

Future development?

Latest E-Invoicing News in Australia

Flags of Australia & New-Zealand waving beneath a partly cloudy blue sky

Peppol PINT format mandatory for B2G transactions in ANZ

The Peppol PINT A-NZ extension applies to all transactions falling under the respective B2G mandates in both Australia & New Zealand.

Peppol PINT invoice format becomes the default for B2G in A-NZ

This is the first step before PINT becomes mandatory in May 2025 for all B2G e-invoicing transactions in Australia & New-Zealand.

Australian Government budgets $23.3 million to boost e-invoicing

The Australian Government is providing $23.3 million in its 2024-2025 budget to enhance e-invoicing adoption, particularly focusing on small businesses.

See all recent news

Technical Details

Australia’s e-invoicing framework is based on Peppol. An electronic invoice is not a PDF sent by email: it is structured invoice data exchanged directly between the supplier’s and buyer’s software.

The sections below explain how the Peppol network operates in Australia, how businesses connect to it, the role of service providers, how recipients are identified and which invoice format applies.

Peppol Network in Australia

Australia uses the Peppol network as its national framework for structured e-invoicing. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) acts as Australia’s Peppol Authority. It sets local requirements, oversees service provider accreditation and supports the adoption of Peppol across government and business.

Peppol operates through a four-corner e-invoicing model. Suppliers (“Corner 1”) and buyers (“Corner 4”) typically use their own accounting or ERP software, which connects to the network through a Peppol service provider (“Corners 2 & 3”), called a Peppol Access Point. The Access Points then route structured invoice data securely between both parties.

Connecting a Business to Peppol

Businesses do not need to become a Peppol Access Point to send or receive e-invoices. In most cases, they can activate e-invoicing through their accounting or ERP software, or use an e-invoicing ready product [↗︎] connected to an accredited Peppol service provider.

Both the sender and the recipient must be connected to the Peppol network before they can exchange e-invoices. The ATO publishes several lists with the goal to facilitate adoption among Australian businesses:

To start using Peppol, a business should:

Confirm that its accounting or ERP software supports e-invoicing
Register to send and/or receive e-invoices through its chosen provider
Check whether its trading partners are available in the Peppol Directory

Peppol Service Providers and Accreditation

Businesses connect to the Peppol network through a service provider, known as an “Access Point“. Peppol Access Points operating in Australia must be accredited by the ATO, or recognised through mutual accreditation with New Zealand.

Accreditation applies to service providers, not to businesses that are using e-invoicing.

It ensures that service providers meet the relevant Peppol governance, security and interoperability requirements, as listed in the Australian Peppol Authority Specific Requirements [↗︎].

Peppol Identifier and Directory

In Australia, a business is generally identified on the Peppol network through its Australian Business Number (ABN). This identifier forms part of its Peppol ID and allows the sender’s service provider to identify the intended recipient.

Once a business is registered on Peppol, its receiving capabilities are published in the Peppol Directory [↗︎]. Any business can use the directory to identify trading partners that are able to receive e-invoices, helping to ensure that invoices are routed to the correct recipient.

Invoice Format and Validation

Structured e-invoices exchanged through Peppol in Australia use the PINT (Peppol INTernational) A-NZ format. This format replaced the previous A-NZ Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 specification on 15 May 2025.

The PINT A-NZ specification and validation rules [↗︎] are updated regularly. Businesses using an e-invoicing ready product or an accredited service provider will generally rely on their software or provider to generate and validate compliant PINT A-NZ invoices.

The Invoicing Hub Word

Australia

Australia has been very active in promoting e-invoicing and made the sensible choice not to build its own system, platform or format, but to rely on an established industry standard: the Peppol network. This makes the move to e-invoicing easier for companies and avoids adding unnecessary complexity for global businesses.

However, despite its head start, Australia has remained hesitant to make e-invoicing mandatory. Instead, the focus has been on expanding adoption across public entities, both to lead by example and to encourage private suppliers to follow. So far, however, this approach has not generated widespread adoption, and mass adoption remains a long way off.

Hopefully, given the growing global momentum behind e-invoicing, particularly across Europe, adoption and regulatory developments could still accelerate in the coming years. New Zealand, Australia’s neighbour, is also advancing more quickly and may help encourage further progress in Australia.