How to comply with the new anti-money laundering laws

For real estate agents and property managers. General information about the law, not legal advice.

Since 1 July 2026, real estate agents who broker sales have obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth). This guide covers what the law catches, what it leaves alone, and what a sales agency now has to do.

Leasing is not covered. Sales are.

The law regulates a list of "designated services". For real estate there are two:

• Brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate for a buyer, seller, transferee or transferor, in the course of a business. Both the seller and the buyer are your customers.

• Selling real estate yourself in the course of a business (a developer, for example) without an independent agent brokering the sale.

"Real estate" is defined to exclude a lease for a term of 30 years or less. A residential tenancy is therefore not real estate for these purposes, and finding tenants, managing a rent roll and managing a property are not designated services. If your agency only leases and manages, the regime does not apply to that work.

If your agency also sells, the sales desk is regulated. The obligations attach to the business providing the service, so an agency that does both is a reporting entity for its sales.

The dates

• 31 March 2026. Brokering a sale became a designated service.

• 1 July 2026. The main obligations began to apply: AML/CTF program, customer due diligence, reporting and record keeping.

• 29 July 2026. Deadline to enrol with AUSTRAC for an agency already brokering sales before 1 July.

An agency that starts brokering sales now must apply to enrol within 28 days of starting.

What a sales agency must do

Enrol with AUSTRAC. Enrolment puts your business on the Reporting Entities Roll.

Assess your risk and write it into an AML/CTF program. Assess how your business could be used for money laundering or terrorism financing, then set policies that manage that risk. Your governing body (the principal or directors) is responsible for overseeing the program.

Appoint an AML/CTF compliance officer and tell AUSTRAC who it is. An agency that enrolled late has until the later of 14 days after enrolment or 29 July 2026 to notify AUSTRAC.

Know your customer before you act. Before providing the service, you must establish on reasonable grounds who the customer is, who they act for, who is acting for them, the beneficial owners of a company or trust, whether any of them is a politically exposed person or subject to targeted financial sanctions, and the nature and purpose of the transaction.

The Rules recognise how a sale actually runs:

• The other party can come later. Once you are acting for the seller, due diligence on the buyer may be finished after you start, and the same applies the other way round. The deadline is the earlier of 28 days after exchange of contracts or 3 days before the settlement date first agreed.

• The conveyancer or lawyer can do the full verification. If you take part in an arrangement where another regulated business in the transaction will verify the customer, you still take reasonable steps to confirm an individual customer is who they say they are, and collect information suited to their risk. The arrangement covers the rest, provided you can get their information at least 3 days before settlement. If you do not get it, your policies must say how you will verify the customer yourself.

Report to AUSTRAC.

• Suspicious matters: within 3 business days of forming the suspicion, or within 24 hours if it relates to terrorism financing.

• Cash of $10,000 or more: a threshold transaction report within 10 business days. The threshold is physical currency, not bank transfers.

Do not tip off. Telling anyone, including the customer, about a suspicious matter report, in a way that could prejudice an investigation, is an offence. That includes your staff.

Keep records for 7 years.

Have the program independently evaluated. For an agency enrolled under the transitional arrangements, the first evaluation falls due between 30 June 2029 and 31 December 2030, depending on the last two digits of your enrolment number.

What this means for property managers

If your role is leasing and management only, none of this is your obligation. Two practical points still apply:

• Your agency may be a reporting entity because of its sales desk. Its AML/CTF policies may still ask things of you, such as training or passing on a concern about a client.

• Tipping off applies to employees of a reporting entity. If you learn that a report has been made about a customer who is also your landlord client, the same rule binds you.

Where to go next

AUSTRAC publishes guidance and starter kits for real estate businesses at austrac.gov.au. If your agency is unsure whether a service is covered, AUSTRAC's guidance and your own legal adviser are the places to settle it.