Definition

Australian sanctions list: the DFAT Consolidated List

Australia's sanctions list is DFAT's Consolidated List. What is on it, who keeps it, what reporting entities must check, and what to do on a match.

By Matt Collis·Updated 2 November 2026·Reviewed 2 November 2026·8 min read

Australia's sanctions list is the Consolidated List, kept by the Australian Sanctions Office in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). It names every individual, entity and vessel subject to Australian sanctions, whether imposed by the United Nations Security Council or by the Foreign Minister under Australia's autonomous sanctions laws. If you search for "Australian sanctions" or the Australian Sanctions Office, this list is what you need. It is free to download, and DFAT calls it a key resource for due diligence checks.

Key facts Australia’s sanctions list at a glance
Kept by
The Australian Sanctions Office, in DFATThe Australian Government’s sanctions regulator, set up on 1 January 2020
Who is on it
Individuals, entities and vesselsFor targeted financial sanctions, travel bans, arms embargoes and maritime sanctions
Legal basis
UN Security Council sanctions and Australian autonomous sanctionsCharter of the United Nations Act 1945 and Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011
Not on it
Names sanctioned only by other countriesSuch as the US, the UK or the EU
Format
One Excel file, free to downloadUpdated often: the file checked on 2 November 2026 was dated that day
Maximum fine, company
10,000 penalty units (A$3.64 million) or three times the transactionStrict liability. Individuals: up to 10 years’ imprisonment and 2,500 penalty units (A$910,000) or three times the transaction

Sources: DFAT, Consolidated List; DFAT, About sanctions; DFAT, Sanctions offences and penalties Reviewed

One list holds every name sanctioned under Australian law, UN and autonomous. It is free to download and changes often.

This page is for accountants, lawyers, conveyancers, real estate agents and the other businesses regulated by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). It covers what is on the list, the two kinds of sanctions behind it, what the AML/CTF reforms now require of reporting entities, how to check the list, and what to do on a match.

What the Consolidated List is

DFAT says the Australian Sanctions Office "maintains and regularly updates the Consolidated List, which includes all individuals, entities and vessels subject to Australian sanctions, including targeted financial sanctions, travel bans, arms embargos and maritime sanctions." The Office is the Australian Government's sanctions regulator. It was set up within DFAT on 1 January 2020.

The list is published as one Excel file on DFAT's Consolidated List page. It changes often: the file we checked on 2 November 2026 was marked as updated that day. DFAT's guide to the list explains its columns. Each row has a reference, a type (individual, entity or vessel), a name and whether it is a primary name or an alias, and where known a date of birth, place of birth, citizenship and address. Separate columns show which measures apply to the listing, such as a targeted financial sanction or a travel ban, and the instrument that designated it.

Since a relaunch on 6 November 2025, DFAT labels each alias as strong or weak, lists designated vessels, and uses standard formats for dates of birth and nationalities. DFAT says the changes give better data matching.

UN sanctions and Australian autonomous sanctions

DFAT's About sanctions page says Australia enforces two types of sanctions. United Nations Security Council sanctions, which Australia must implement as a UN member, take effect under the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945. Australian autonomous sanctions are imposed by the Australian Government as a matter of foreign policy, under the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011. Both sets of names are on the one list, and UN listings appear on it as they appear on the UN Security Council's own list. Our guide to the United Nations sanctions list covers the UN side.

Most sanctions frameworks are about a country, such as Russia, Iran or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. On 21 December 2021 Australia added three thematic autonomous frameworks that apply to conduct anywhere in the world: serious violations or serious abuses of human rights, significant cyber incidents, and serious corruption.

The list holds only names sanctioned under Australian law. DFAT says it does not include people or entities listed only under other countries' sanctions laws, such as those of the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union. If those laws may apply to you, DFAT says to get legal advice.

What the sanctions laws prohibit

For anyone listed for targeted financial sanctions, DFAT says it is an offence to:

  • directly or indirectly make an asset available to, or for the benefit of, the listed person or entity; or
  • use or deal with assets owned or controlled by them, commonly called an asset freeze.

An asset is any type of property, tangible or intangible, however acquired. DFAT's guidance on dealing with assets adds that allowing or facilitating someone else to use or deal with a frozen asset is also an offence, and that dealing includes using, selling or moving it. These laws apply to everyone in Australia, not only to businesses AUSTRAC regulates. DFAT says sanctions permits are available for some activities that would otherwise be prohibited.

The penalties are severe. For an individual, up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of 2,500 penalty units (A$910,000 from 1 July 2026) or three times the value of the transaction. For a body corporate, a fine of 10,000 penalty units (A$3.64 million) or three times the value of the transaction. DFAT says the offences are strict liability for bodies corporate, so no intent, knowledge, recklessness or negligence needs to be proved.

What the AML/CTF reforms require of reporting entities

Sanctions obligations and where they come from

ObligationWho it bindsWhere it comes from
Don’t make assets available to a designated person, or use or deal with their assetsEveryone in AustraliaCharter of the United Nations Act 1945 and Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011
Establish whether the customer, beneficial owners and anyone acting for or receiving the service are designated, before the service startsReporting entitiesAML/CTF Act s 28
Check whether any of them become designated during the relationshipReporting entitiesAUSTRAC guidance (Act ss 28 and 30)
Cover sanctions in your AML/CTF policiesReporting entitiesAML/CTF Rules 2025 s 5-3
Lodge a suspicious matter report if you suspect information relevant to a breachReporting entitiesAUSTRAC guidance on targeted financial sanctions

Sources: AUSTRAC, Persons designated for targeted financial sanctions; DFAT, Dealing with assets owned or controlled by designated persons and entities; Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (ss 5, 28); Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules 2025 Reviewed

The asset freeze binds everyone in Australia. The AML/CTF reforms add checks that reporting entities must run before and during a service.

Since the reforms, the AML/CTF Act itself refers to sanctions. Section 5 defines a person designated for targeted financial sanctions as a designated person or entity under the regulations made under either of the two sanctions Acts. AUSTRAC's guidance on persons designated for targeted financial sanctions sets out three obligations.

  1. Before you start the service. Under section 28 of the Act, you must establish on reasonable grounds whether your customer, any beneficial owner, anyone the customer is receiving the service for and anyone acting for the customer is designated for targeted financial sanctions. You can't begin to provide the designated service until you have.
  2. During the relationship. AUSTRAC says you must check whether any of those people become designated, and monitor your customers for potential breaches of sanctions laws.
  3. In your policies. Section 5-3 of the AML/CTF Rules 2025 says your AML/CTF policies must deal with making sure you don't make assets available to a designated person, or use, deal with or facilitate dealing with their assets, in breach of either sanctions Act.

If you suspect on reasonable grounds that you have information relevant to a breach of Australia's sanctions laws, you must lodge a suspicious matter report with AUSTRAC. These obligations started on 31 March 2026 for existing reporting entities, and on 1 July 2026 for the businesses brought in by Tranche 2. Where you delay initial customer due diligence, AUSTRAC says confirming whether a customer is designated is part of the verification you finish within 20 business days. The wider steps are in our customer due diligence checklist.

How to search the list

DFAT publishes the list as a download; we found no search tool on its site. You can search the file yourself, or use a screening service that includes it. Whichever you use:

  • Use the latest version. AUSTRAC says sanctions change often, so always check the most recently published list. DFAT runs a mailing list for changes to sanctions laws and the list, and AUSTRAC tells reporting entities to sign up.
  • Allow for spelling. AUSTRAC says names vary in spelling, particularly non-English names translated into English, so you may need to check alternative spellings and use fuzzy searching. Check aliases as well as primary names.
  • Check every party, not only the client. That means beneficial owners and anyone acting for the customer, as listed above. For a company or trust, our guide to customer due diligence for company and trust clients sets out who that is.
  • Re-check. AUSTRAC sets no fixed interval, but expects you to know if a customer becomes designated, and to consider more thorough checks for higher-risk customers.

How screening fits into onboarding, and which other lists firms often add, is covered in our guide to sanctions screening in Australia.

What to do on a match

A name match is a lead, not a finding. Compare the other details on the list entry, such as date of birth, place of birth and citizenship, with what you know about your customer. If it is still a possible match, DFAT says to get legal advice before going any further.

If you are, or think you may be, holding or dealing with an asset owned or controlled by a designated person or entity, DFAT says you must:

  1. hold, or freeze, the asset;
  2. tell the Australian Sanctions Office by emailing asset.freezing@dfat.gov.au; and
  3. notify the Australian Federal Police through its Report a crime form, as soon as possible.

AUSTRAC adds that you must not return frozen assets to the customer without a sanctions permit, and you may also need to lodge a suspicious matter report. The Australian Sanctions Office can help you work out whether an asset is owned or controlled by a listed person, but it doesn't give legal advice. General questions go to it through its Pax portal or sanctions@dfat.gov.au.

Key point

Australia's sanctions list is DFAT's Consolidated List. Reporting entities must establish whether every party to a designated service is on it before the service starts, and freeze and report any asset of a designated person.

What StackGo does here

StackGo's IdentityCheck runs sanctions screening as part of its Screen workflow. It screens every party to a client, including directors and beneficial owners, against over 70 international and domestic sanctions lists, updated every 30 minutes. It uses the name and date of birth read from the verified ID document, so nothing is retyped. A possible match links to its detail on the client's result for your team to review, and Monitor re-screens monitored clients every month.

We don't publish the full list of sources on this site. Ask us for it and check it covers the Consolidated List for your obligation. Deciding whether a match is real, freezing an asset, telling the Australian Sanctions Office and the police, and lodging a suspicious matter report stay with your business.

Frequently asked questions

Who keeps Australia's sanctions list?

The Australian Sanctions Office, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It is the Australian Government's sanctions regulator and maintains the Consolidated List.

Is the UN sanctions list part of the Consolidated List?

Yes. People and entities sanctioned by the UN Security Council appear on the Consolidated List, alongside those sanctioned under Australia's autonomous sanctions laws.

Do we also have to screen against US, UK or EU lists?

AUSTRAC's guidance points to DFAT's list for Australian obligations. Names sanctioned only by other countries aren't on it. If foreign sanctions laws may apply to your business, DFAT says to get legal advice.

Is there a free sanctions search tool in Australia?

DFAT publishes the Consolidated List as a free Excel download. We found no search tool on DFAT's site, so businesses search the file or use a screening service that includes it.

Sources

Checked on 2 November 2026. Most DFAT pages carry no date; where a page shows one, it is given.

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