Company information

Find the right databases and websites to research Australian and international companies.

Company information databases are useful for finding:

  • Annual, quarterly and sustainability reports
  • Key financial data (Financial analysis databases are also available, however these are aimed at advanced studies and research in economics, finance and accounting)
  • Company history (including mergers and acquisitions)
  • Subsidiary companies
  • Key personnel (e.g. CEOs, directors, board membership) and contact details

Strategic analyses (risks, SWOT)

A strategic analysis (such as a risk or SWOT analysis) is usually undertaken by using company information in conjunction with an analysis of the industry and/or market that a company operates in.

For example, a SWOT analysis of McDonald's in Australia would need to take into account information about:

  1. The company McDonald's Australia Holdings Limited and
  2. the fast food industry
  3. in the Australian market.

For advice on points 2 and 3 see Industry reports and market research.

Competitive environment

To identify a company's major competitors use:

Competitive positioning analyses are available on Passport.

News articles about companies

Recommended databases for researching newspaper, trade journal and magazine articles about companies are:

  • Factiva - searches thousands of local and international newspapers, trade journals and magazines. Detailed searching by company, industry, or region is possible. For example, to find articles from Queensland sources in the last six months about Microsoft Windows:
    1. Enter Windows into the Search Form
    2. Change the Date drop-down to In the last 6 months
    3. In Company search for and select Microsoft Corporation
    4. In Region browse to Australia/Oceania - Australia and select Queensland
    5. Hit Search.
  • NewsWires are available in Marketline advantage by changing All Research to Company News in the search drop-down.
  • ABI/INFORM trade & industry - includes in-depth coverage of companies, products, executives, trends and other topics.

See News and current affairs for more news databases and advice about searching news sources.

Australian companies

These databases provide information about Australian companies exclusively. Use to find key financial information, annual reports, key personnel and company history:

Companies globally

These databases cover information about companies from many countries but Australian companies are included:

Not-for-profit organisations

Most charities and other not-for-profit organisations are easily discoverable on the web, however a full list of Australian charities is available from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

The following databases are useful for finding information about not-for-profit organisations and identifying funding opportunities.