Plain-English answers about AUSTRAC and the AML/CTF Act.
Written for solicitors, conveyancers, settlement agents: what the law asks, by when, and how a small firm meets it without a consultant.
Do lawyers need to register with AUSTRAC?Yes, if the firm provides a designated service: conveyancing, managing client money, setting up companies or trusts, or acting in a business sale. From 1 July 2026 those firms must enrol with AUSTRAC.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- Do conveyancers need to register with AUSTRAC?
Yes. Conveyancing and property settlements are designated services from 1 July 2026. Licensed conveyancers and settlement agents must enrol with AUSTRAC within 28 days.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- Designated services for lawyers under the AML/CTF Act
Which legal services are designated: property and business transactions, client money, companies and trusts, nominee roles. What is left out.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- AUSTRAC enrolment for a law firm or conveyancing practice: step by step
What to gather, where to enrol, the 28-day deadline and what to do in the same week.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Client due diligence for lawyers: what to do before the matter startsThe steps of customer due diligence for a legal practice: identify the client, verify with reliable documents, identify beneficial owners, understand the purpose, rate the risk, record it.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- KYC for law firms in Australia: client identification under AUSTRAC rules
Which documents count, how to verify individuals, companies and trusts, what to record and for how long.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
VOI versus AML customer due diligence: what conveyancers already do, and what is newVerification of identity under the ARNECC rules is not the same as AML/CTF customer due diligence. The overlap, the gaps and how to run both without doing everything twice.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Beneficial ownership verification for law firmsHow to identify and verify the beneficial owners of a company, trust or partnership under the AML/CTF Act, and what to record.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- The AML/CTF compliance officer in a small law firm
Who can hold the role, what it involves, and how a firm of one to ten people fills it without hiring anyone.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- AML/CTF and the law firm trust account
Managing client money is a designated service. What that adds to the trust account rules you already follow.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Suspicious matter reports for lawyers and conveyancersWhen to report, the 3-business-day deadline, the red flags in property and business transactions, legal professional privilege and the tipping-off rule.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Threshold transaction reports: cash of AU$10,000 or more in a legal matterWhen a firm must lodge a TTR: physical cash of AU$10,000 or more received in a designated service, within 10 business days.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- Legal professional privilege and the AML/CTF Act
How the Tranche 2 reforms treat privilege: what is protected, what is not, and how a firm handles a suspicious matter report without breaching its duty to the client.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- AML checklist for law firms in Australia
A one-page AML/CTF checklist for a small practice: enrolment, program, compliance officer, client due diligence, trust account, reporting, records and training.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- AML checklist for conveyancers
The AML/CTF checklist for a conveyancing or settlement practice, built around the settlement workflow you already run.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- AML/CTF training for law firm and conveyancing staff
What staff must be trained on, how often, and how to record it for AUSTRAC.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- AML penalties for lawyers and conveyancers in Australia
The civil penalties, remedial directions and criminal offences under the AML/CTF Act, and how AUSTRAC has said it will approach Tranche 2 firms in the first years.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- Choosing AML software for a small law firm or conveyancing practice
How to compare AML/CTF software for a small practice: the obligations it must cover, what to ignore, and the questions to ask any vendor.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- AML/CTF alongside PEXA: what the settlement platform does and does not do
PEXA runs the settlement. It is not an AML/CTF system. What it helps with, what it cannot do, and how to run compliance alongside it.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- Law societies, the Law Council and AML/CTF: what the profession expects
How AML/CTF obligations interact with your law society, the guidance available, and the conduct dimension.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
- The Australian Institute of Conveyancers and AML/CTF
What AIC members should know: the institute's guidance, licensing interactions and how to combine AML with the VOI you already do.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
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