Background

What changed in 2026?

The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024 expanded Australia's financial crime framework to include certain services provided by real estate professionals, lawyers, conveyancers, accountants and other professional service providers.

These businesses are regulated when they provide a service identified in the legislation as a designated service. The reforms do not mean that every conversation, private property sale or activity undertaken by a property professional is automatically regulated.

The purpose of the reforms is to make it more difficult for property and professional services to be used to conceal criminal funds or obscure the people behind a transaction.

Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing is commonly shortened to AML/CTF. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, known as AUSTRAC, administers the federal framework.

Who is covered

The service determines whether the laws apply

The obligations apply when a business provides a designated service. Examples involving property can include:

  • Brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate
  • Acting as a buyer's agent or buyer's advocate under an agreement to find or identify property
  • Selling real estate through a property development business without an independent real estate agent
  • Providing certain legal, conveyancing, accounting, trust or company services connected with a transaction

Private residential sales and incidental property sales by businesses are not automatically captured. The individual service and circumstances determine whether the legislation applies.

AUSTRAC states that a buyer's agent starts providing the relevant designated service when an agreement to find or identify property is signed.

Key dates

  • 29 November 2024: The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024 was passed by Parliament.
  • 31 March 2026: Enrolment opened for businesses entering the framework.
  • 1 July 2026: The obligations commenced for newly regulated businesses providing designated services.
  • 29 July 2026: This was the initial enrolment deadline for newly regulated businesses already providing designated services from commencement.

A business that begins providing a designated service later generally needs to apply for enrolment within 28 days of starting that service.

Business obligations

What a buyer's advocate may need to do

A buyer's advocate providing a designated service must have processes for managing financial crime risk. Depending on the business and engagement, these obligations can include:

01
Enrol with AUSTRAC
A business providing designated services must enrol with AUSTRAC within the applicable timeframe. Enrolment is different from registration, which generally applies to particular remittance and virtual asset services.
02
Complete customer due diligence
The business must establish and verify information about its customer. It may also need information about anyone acting for the customer, beneficial owners or people on whose behalf the service is being received.
03
Assess financial crime risk
The business must identify and assess the money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks associated with its customers, services and operations.
04
Maintain an AML/CTF program
The business must maintain documented policies, systems and controls appropriate to the risks it faces.
05
Report suspicious matters
Where the legal reporting threshold is met, the business must submit a Suspicious Matter Report to AUSTRAC. The business may be restricted from telling the customer that a report has been made.
06
Keep required records
Customer due diligence, transaction and compliance records must generally be retained for the periods required by the legislation. Many relevant records must be kept for at least seven years, with the starting point depending on the type of record.
For buyers

What does this mean for you?

When you formally engage a buyer's advocate, you may be asked to provide information that helps establish who you are and whether anyone else is involved in the purchase.

The information required depends on how you are buying, the service being provided and the level of risk identified. It may include:

  • Your full name, date of birth and residential address
  • Information from a passport, driver licence or another reliable source
  • Details of anyone acting on your behalf
  • Company, trust or beneficial ownership information where relevant
  • Further information where the circumstances require enhanced customer due diligence

Customer due diligence will usually be completed before the designated service begins. The legislation allows delayed verification in particular circumstances, although specific conditions and timeframes apply.

The business may also need to update or obtain further information during an engagement if circumstances change or additional risk is identified.

A buyer's advocate may be unable to begin or continue providing a designated service if the required customer due diligence cannot be completed.

Purpose

Why the reforms were introduced

Property can be used to move or conceal criminal funds, particularly where ownership structures or the source of money are difficult to identify.

The reforms are intended to help regulated businesses understand who they are dealing with, identify higher risk activity and report suspicious matters where required.

For buyers, this means providing some information earlier in an engagement and understanding that further questions may occasionally be necessary. These checks form part of the regulated business's legal obligations rather than an assessment of the buyer's character.

Working with NPS

What to expect when engaging NPS

When the relevant designated service begins, Noosa Property Scout will explain what information is required and how it can be provided.

The process may vary depending on whether you are buying personally, with another person, through a company or trust, or on behalf of someone else. If further information is needed, the reason for the request will be explained where the law allows.

Personal information collected for customer due diligence will be handled in accordance with the applicable legal, privacy, security and record keeping requirements, as set out in the Privacy Policy.

AUSTRAC provides the authoritative guidance about how these obligations apply. Read the official AUSTRAC guidance for real estate services, or see the NPS Property Glossary for plain language explanations of the main AML/CTF terms.