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Global design platform giant Canva has been slapped with $792,000 in infringement notices after four entities within the group allegedly failed to lodge their financial reports on time.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued notices to Canva Pty Ltd, Canva Operations Pty Limited, Canva Trading Pty Ltd and Fusion Books Pty Ltd, with each entity paying $198,000 for allegedly failing to lodge FY24 financial reports - covering the year ending 31 December 2024 - by the 30 April 2025 deadline.
Canva Pty Ltd lodged its consolidated financial report on 27 March 2026, nearly 11 months after the deadline.
The remaining three entities in the Sydney-headquartered group were not required to prepare and lodge individual financial reports once the consolidated report was filed.
The action forms part of a broader ASIC crackdown on financial reporting non-compliance among large proprietary companies.
The regulator has now issued 21 infringement notices worth more than $4 million for alleged FY24 breaches alone, and on a single day secured more than $1.1 million in court-imposed fines against three public companies for the same type of offence.
ASIC Commissioner Kate O'Rourke says the regulator's surveillance is "targeted" and "data-driven", emphasising that companies have a legal obligation to lodge reports so creditors and other stakeholders can make informed decisions.
"Companies and other entities with reporting obligations must ensure financial reports are lodged within the required timeframes," says O'Rourke.
"Both non-lodgment and late lodgement prevents creditors and other users of the reports from making timely and informed decisions when dealing with these companies and is a failure of their legal obligations.
"In line with our current enforcement priority, ASIC has a number of open investigations into alleged non-lodgment and late lodgement of financial reports, and enforcement action will continue."
ASIC notes that Canva has undergone a corporate restructure since 31 December 2024 and confirmed the restructured entity, Canva Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, lodged its FY25 reports on time by the 30 April 2026 deadline.
ASIC also says payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt or liability under the regime and that the companies are not regarded as having been convicted of the alleged offence.
Canva, co-founded by Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, has grown into one of Australia's most valuable private technology companies.
The platform's annual revenue is estimated to have grown to about $6 billion with more than 265 million active users globally.
The Canva notices follow a $594,000 penalty issued to three Mecca-group companies earlier this year for the same type of offence, and more than $2.2 million in infringement notices issued to 12 other large proprietary companies - including Grill'd, Bing Lee and Frank Green - for allegedly failing to lodge FY24 financial reports.
ASIC's 2025 surveillance program engaged 217 companies and found 151, or 70 per cent, were non-compliant with their reporting obligations.
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