Hi ajw01, it is my understanding that as long as you owned the...

Hi ajw01, it is my understanding that as long as you owned the shares as at the close of business the day before the ex-dividend date, then you will get the dividend. This is the case even if you sell before the record date.

The 45 day holding rule refers to whether a person is entitled to claim a credit for the franking credits in their tax return.

"The holding period rule applies to shares bought on or after 1 July 1997. It requires the individual to hold the shares 'at risk' for at least 45 days (90 days for preference shares and not counting the day of acquisition or disposal) to be eligible for a tax offset for the franking credit. The holding period rule only needs to be satisfied once for each purchase of shares.

Attention:

This rule does NOT apply if the individual's total franking credits entitlement for the year of income is below $5,000".

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?menuid=0&doc=/content/8651.htm&page=4&H4

So basically you don't have a problem unless you're going to have more than $5000 of franking credits for the year. (Franking credits are at 30%. So if you're receiving fully franked dividends we're talking about $11,500 in cash dividends).

However be aware that the share price tends to drop a bit once the shares go ex-dividend.
Can be a handy strategy if you're buying in someone's name who doesn't have a lot of other income.