> And yes, it occurred to me only later - how do you get ASIC to issue you 
> an ACN corresponding to the company name being applied for?
>
> Can you ask, "what ACN will you issue me if I register an as yet unnamed 
> company?





At question 2 of the ASIC form 201 (Registration of a Company) one ticks the
box that says:

"The company name on registration will be its Australian Company Number
(ACN)"

and the company is registered with as 000 000 000 Pty Ltd.

It's that simple. :-)