From 1 July 2026, real estate agencies that broker property sales must comply with AUSTRAC's AML/CTF obligations. This guide explains what's changed, who's captured, and what you need to do.
Built for Australian real estate agencies involved in property sales, buyer's agency, or direct property development sales.
Scope
Two designated services bring real estate into scope.
No monetary threshold. All transactions involving designated services are in scope regardless of property value.
Based on AUSTRAC reform guidance: New industries and services to be regulated
Key Dates
From Royal Assent to your first annual report.
Based on AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024 and AUSTRAC reform guidance.
Need help preparing before July 1?
Book a free 15-minute call →Your Obligations
AUSTRAC frames the regime as 6 key obligations: enrolment, AML/CTF program, governance, customer due diligence, reporting, and record-keeping. Here is how those break down in practice for real estate agencies.
Register via AUSTRAC Online within 28 days of providing a designated service.
Written program covering policies, procedures, and controls for managing ML/TF risks.
Documented analysis of customer, service, channel, and geographic risks.
Appoint a management-level compliance officer within 28 days of providing a designated service, and notify AUSTRAC within 14 days of the appointment.
Identify and verify every customer, generally before the designated service commences. Limited delayed-verification exceptions apply, with verification required within 20 business days.
Additional verification for high-risk customers, foreign PEPs, and suspicious matters.
Screen all customers for Politically Exposed Person status.
Screen customers, beneficial owners, and persons acting on their behalf against the DFAT Consolidated List.
Continuous monitoring for unusual activity and periodic risk review.
File an SMR with AUSTRAC within 3 business days of forming a suspicion.
Report physical cash transactions of $10,000 or more within 10 business days.
Retain all compliance records for 7 years. Stored securely and easily retrievable.
Submit to AUSTRAC between 1 January and 31 March each year.
All personnel must receive AML/CTF training before performing relevant functions.
Independent evaluation of your AML/CTF program at least once every 3 years.
Based on AUSTRAC regulatory expectations and priorities for 2025-26
The Starter Kit
AUSTRAC provides a free starter kit for small, simple agencies. Here's how to know if it's enough.
AUSTRAC states: “The starter kit isn’t designed to be used as-is.” It requires customisation to your agency's specific circumstances and is not a substitute for legal advice.
Based on AUSTRAC Real Estate Program Starter Kit: Getting Started
Not sure if the starter kit covers your agency?
Book a readiness assessment: $495 →Why This Matters
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sets global AML/CTF standards through 40 Recommendations. Australia is a founding member since 1990. In Australia's 2015 mutual evaluation, FATF found that Australia had not extended AML/CTF regulation to gatekeeper professions (including real estate agents, lawyers, and accountants), resulting in Non-Compliant ratings on Recommendations 22, 23, and 28.
In May 2024, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus publicly warned that Australia risked being “grey-listed” by FATF, a designation marking a country as a safe haven for money laundering. Australia's next FATF evaluation is scheduled for 2026-2027. The AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024 closes this gap.
Based on FATF Mutual Evaluation Report 2015 and public statements by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
Money Laundering
Real estate is one of the most common vehicles for the final stage. Here's how the process works.
Dirty money enters the financial system. Cash is broken into smaller deposits, mixed with business income, or used to buy assets.
A buyer makes four separate $9,000 cash deposits across different bank accounts to stay under reporting thresholds.
Money moves through shell companies, trusts, offshore accounts, and asset trades to break the paper trail.
Funds transfer from Company A to Trust B to Company C. Nominee directors sign. The real owner is hidden behind layers of corporate structure.
The “clean” money re-enters the economy as legitimate income. Property is one of the most common vehicles.
Company C buys a $1.2M property, rents it for two years, sells for $1.35M. The proceeds now look like normal capital gains.
Dirty money is income from crime: drug trafficking, fraud, tax evasion, corruption. Depositing large amounts of unexplained cash into the banking system risks triggering detection and reporting. Here is a simplified illustration of how criminals try to use real estate to clean it.
Ray runs an import business and has been under-reporting sales for years. He's sitting on $480,000 in unreported cash. If he deposits it into a bank, it will trigger questions and reporting. He needs to make it disappear into the legitimate economy.
Ray pays associates to make cash deposits of $8,000 to $9,500 into accounts at different banks. Each deposit stays under the $10,000 threshold that would trigger an automatic report to AUSTRAC. Over six months, the $480,000 enters the banking system. (Banks can still detect structuring patterns. AUSTRAC explicitly warns about this. But not every case is caught.)
The money is transferred to “Coastal Developments Pty Ltd,” a company registered to a nominee director with no real operations. Coastal transfers the funds to “Bayside Family Trust.” Ray's associate is the trust's appointor. The money is now three steps removed from Ray.
The trust puts down $480,000 as a 30% deposit from a corporate account and takes out a $1.12M mortgage for the rest. A solicitor handles all correspondence. The buyer never inspects the property, never negotiates on price, and asks nothing about rental yield, local schools, or comparable sales. The sale settles quickly.
Two years of rental income at $720/week. Tax returns filed normally. The property sells for $1.75M. After repaying the $1.12M mortgage, the trust walks away with roughly $630,000: Ray's original $480,000 plus $150,000 in capital gains. Bank statements show a trust that bought, held, and sold a property. What started as unexplained cash now looks like a smart property investment.
Buyer is a trust with no clear beneficial owner
A third party (solicitor) handles all communication. The buyer never contacts the agency directly.
No property inspection requested, no price negotiation attempted
Large cash deposit ($480K) paid from a corporate account with no clear link to the trust
Buyer shows no interest in the property's characteristics, location, or rental yield
This is a simplified illustration, not a literal financial model. Real scenarios involve transaction costs, interest, tax, and selling costs not shown here. The purpose is to show how the stages of money laundering can involve your agency.
AUSTRAC's 2024 National Risk Assessment rated domestic real estate as a very high money-laundering risk. Real estate agents as a profession were rated medium risk. Source: 2024 ML NRA
Terrorism financing can originate from any source, including legitimate income, and directs funds toward terrorist acts. Methods overlap with money laundering, which is why they are regulated together as AML/CTF.
Penalties
Penalties are calculated in penalty units (currently $330 each, subject to indexation). Each failure is a separate contravention. Dollar amounts shown are approximate current equivalents.
Based on AML/CTF Act 2006 (Cth). Penalty unit value: currently $330, subject to indexation under the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 4AA. Next indexation date: 1 July 2026.
Enforcement
These penalties applied to banks and casinos. Real estate agencies are now subject to the same framework.
Source: AUSTRAC enforcement actions. All penalties are verified from public records.
Don't risk non-compliance.
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This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice. Content is based on publicly available AUSTRAC guidance, the AML/CTF Act 2006 (Cth), and the AML/CTF Rules 2025. GateCrown is not a law firm. You should seek independent legal advice before relying on this content for compliance purposes. Regulations and penalty unit values are subject to change.