Australia's AML/CTF laws, explained for the businesses they now cover
Plain-English guide to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing in Australia: what the law requires, who must comply since the 2026 Tranche 2 reforms, AUSTRAC, programs, KYC, reporting, training and software, with news as the rules change.
Three professions joined the regime in 2026. Each has its own guide and tool.
The law lists services, not professions. These are the sectors most affected by Tranche 2; the full coverage list, including dealers in precious metals and the financial sector, is on the coverage page.
Client money, companies and trusts, business and property transactions.
Sector guide and tool →Real estate agentsRealtyAMLBrokering sales and purchases, deposits into trust, developers selling direct.
Sector guide and tool →Law firms and conveyancersPracticeAMLProperty and business transactions, trust money, entity work, VOI plus AML.
Sector guide and tool →What every reporting entity has to do, whatever its size.
Every part of the regime, one page each.
- What is money laundering? Definition, stages and Australian examples
Money laundering is making the proceeds of crime look legitimate. The three stages, how it happens in Australia, and why accountants, real estate agents and lawyers are now expected to notice it.
- What is AML/CTF? Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing explained
AML/CTF stands for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing: the Australian regime run by AUSTRAC that requires certain businesses to identify customers, keep records and report suspicious matters.
- The AML/CTF Act, the Rules and the 2024 Amendment Act: Australia's anti-money laundering laws
The legislation behind Australian AML/CTF compliance: the Act of 2006, the AML/CTF Rules, the Amendment Act 2024 that brought in Tranche 2, and the penalties for getting it wrong.
- Tranche 1: who Australia's AML/CTF laws covered from 2006
The first phase of Australia's AML/CTF regime covered banks, remitters, casinos and bullion dealers. What Tranche 1 required, and why the professions were left out for nearly twenty years.
- Tranche 2 explained: the 2026 AML/CTF reforms for accountants, real estate agents, lawyers and conveyancers
From 1 July 2026, accountants, bookkeepers, real estate agents, lawyers, conveyancers and dealers in precious metals are AML/CTF reporting entities. What Tranche 2 is, who is caught, the deadlines and what to do.
- AUSTRAC: what Australia's AML/CTF regulator does, and what it expects from you
AUSTRAC is the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre: the regulator and financial intelligence unit for AML/CTF. Enrolment, reporting, guidance, enforcement and how to deal with it.
- The AML/CTF program: risk assessment, policies, templates and the annual review
Every reporting entity must adopt a written AML/CTF program. What it must contain under the reformed regime, how the risk assessment works, what a template can and cannot do, and how often to review it.
- KYC and customer due diligence under Australian AML/CTF law
What customer due diligence requires: identifying and verifying clients, beneficial owners and politically exposed persons, understanding the purpose of a relationship, rating risk and reviewing it.
- Reporting to AUSTRAC: suspicious matter reports, threshold transactions, transaction monitoring and the annual report
The reports every reporting entity must lodge with AUSTRAC, the deadlines (3 business days for SMRs, 10 for TTRs), what transaction monitoring means for a small business, and the tipping-off rule.
- AML/CTF training and certification in Australia: what is required, and what is optional
What the AML/CTF Act requires of staff training, how often to run it, how to record it, and where professional certifications such as CAMS fit for a small business.
- Who must comply with AML/CTF laws in Australia: sectors, designated services and the 2026 additions
The businesses covered by Australia's AML/CTF Act, sector by sector: financial services, remitters, gambling, digital assets, and from 1 July 2026 accountants, real estate agents, lawyers, conveyancers and dealers in precious metals.
- AML/CTF compliance software in Australia: what a small business actually needs
How to choose AML software for a Tranche 2 business: the obligations it must cover, what enterprise features to ignore, what a fair price looks like, and the tools built for each sector.
Questions people ask
- What is AML/CTF?
- Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing: Australia's regime, supervised by AUSTRAC, that requires businesses providing designated services to identify customers, keep records and report suspicious matters.
- Who has to comply?
- Since 2007, banks, remitters, casinos and other financial businesses. Since 1 July 2026, also accountants, bookkeepers, real estate agents, lawyers, conveyancers, trust and company service providers and dealers in precious metals and stones, when they provide a designated service.
- What is Tranche 2?
- The name for the second group of businesses brought into the regime by the AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024, with obligations commencing on 1 July 2026.
- Is this site independent?
- It is published by the group that also runs three sector compliance tools (LedgerAML, RealtyAML, PracticeAML). We say so on every page and cite AUSTRAC and the legislation as the primary sources. The guide covers the whole regime, including sectors our tools do not serve.