Guide

AML/CTF obligations for real estate agents in Australia

Since 1 July 2026, Australian real estate agents have been reporting entities under the AML/CTF Act. You check two customers per sale: your own client before you act, and the other party by the earlier of 28 days after exchange or 3 days before settlement. You also enrol with AUSTRAC and run an AML/CTF program.

By Matt Collis·Updated 21 October 2026·Reviewed 21 October 2026·Version 10·6 min read

This guide is for selling agents, buyer’s agents and developers who sell without an agent. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is your regulator. The rules here come from its guidance, the AML/CTF Rules 2025 and the Act as amended by the Tranche 2 reforms.

Which real estate businesses are in scope?

AUSTRAC regulates two real estate designated services, items 1 and 2 of table 5 in the Act. Item 1 is brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate as a business, which covers seller’s and buyer’s agents.

Item 2 covers a developer that sells property, such as off-the-plan apartments, without an independent agent. Its customer is the buyer.

“Real estate” includes freehold and leases of more than 30 years. Leases of 30 years or less are excluded, so property management is out of scope. A transfer for no money still counts.

Who is your customer on a sale?

When your service to each party starts

You are	Service to your own client starts	Service to the other party starts
Seller’s agent	When the agency agreement with the seller is signed	When the transaction is reasonably expected to proceed, typically when the buyer’s offer is accepted and the contract signed
Buyer’s agent	When the agreement to find or identify a property is signed	When the transaction is reasonably expected to proceed, as above
Developer selling without an agent (item 2)	Not applicable: the buyer is the only customer	When there is a commitment to sell, typically when you enter the agreement to sell

Source: AUSTRAC, Real estate designated services Reviewed 21 Oct 2026

Each customer check hangs on when the designated service to that party starts, and that depends on which side you act for.

A seller’s agent who brokers a sale has obligations to the buyer too, and a buyer’s agent to the seller.

Key point

Under Australia’s AML/CTF Act, an agent who brokers a real estate sale has two customers: the seller and the buyer, whichever side it acts for.

What must an agency do first?

Key dates Deadlines for a real estate agency

Obligations start: 1 July 2026Enrolment opened on 31 March 2026
Enrol: Within 28 days of your first designated service29 July 2026 for an agency trading on 1 July 2026. Update your details within 14 days of a change
Compliance officer: Appoint within 28 daysNotify AUSTRAC by 29 July 2026 or 14 days after you enrol, whichever is later
Suspicious matter report: Within 3 business daysWithin 24 hours if the suspicion relates to terrorism financing
Threshold transaction report: Within 10 business daysOnly when your agency receives or pays physical currency of A$10,000 or more
First annual compliance report: Lodge 1 July to 30 September 2027Covers 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027
First independent evaluation: By 30 June 2029 to 31 December 2030Set by the last two digits of your AUSTRAC account number; then at least every 3 years
Records: 7 yearsFor most records, including customer due diligence

Sources: AUSTRAC, Enrol with us overview; AUSTRAC, AML/CTF compliance officer; AUSTRAC, AML/CTF transitional rules 2026; AUSTRAC, Suspicious matter reports; AUSTRAC, Threshold transaction reports; AUSTRAC, Annual compliance reports Reviewed 21 Oct 2026

The dates and deadlines an agency regulated from 1 July 2026 works to, under the AML/CTF Act, the Rules and AUSTRAC’s transitional rules.

You must apply to enrol with AUSTRAC no later than 28 days after you start providing a designated service. Agents enrol; registration typically applies only to remitters and virtual asset providers.

You also appoint an AML/CTF compliance officer who is at management level, resident in Australia and fit and proper. AUSTRAC says this will typically be your licensee in charge. See real estate AML compliance officer requirements.

Your AML/CTF program must be in place before you broker a sale. It is a written money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risk assessment plus the policies and controls that respond to it, approved by a senior manager.

When do you verify each party?

Two customer due diligence checks on every sale

Real estate agencies under AML/CTF tranche 2

Check 1
Verify your own client

Before you act for them.
Contracts exchanged

The clock for check 2 starts here.
Check 2
Verify the other party

Due by whichever of these comes first:

28 days after exchange or3 days before the initially agreed settlement date

If the other party will not cooperate, record the steps you took.
Settlement

Sources: AUSTRAC, Delayed initial customer due diligence; AUSTRAC, real estate program starter kit updates (10 June 2026); Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules 2025 (ss 6-32, 6-33) Reviewed 21 Oct 2026

An agency verifies its own client before acting for them, and the other party by the earlier of 28 days after exchange or 3 days before the initially agreed settlement date.

You must complete initial customer due diligence (CDD) on your own client before you start providing them a designated service.

For the party you do not act for, section 6-32 of the Rules lets you delay CDD. The deadline is the earlier of 28 days after exchange or 3 days before the initially agreed settlement date. The rule says 28 days, not 28 business days.

Key point

Under Australia’s AML/CTF Act, delaying CDD on the other party is allowed only if essential to avoid interrupting business and the extra risk is low.

Your policies must cover when you use the delay. At auction the buyer may only be known at the fall of the hammer, which AUSTRAC says will often justify a delay.

If the other party won’t cooperate, record the steps you took and whether you considered a suspicious matter report (Rules s 6-33).

What does a customer check involve?

Under initial CDD you establish, on reasonable grounds:

who the customer is, and who acts for them
any beneficial owner: anyone who owns 25% or more of a company or trust, or controls it
whether any of them is a politically exposed person (PEP) or designated for sanctions
the purpose of the transaction, and the customer’s ML/TF risk

Our CDD checklist and guide to collecting UBO information set out the steps. Screen names against the DFAT Consolidated List; see what sanctions screening involves.

A foreign PEP always triggers enhanced due diligence, including source of funds and wealth and senior manager approval. Any high-risk customer needs enhanced CDD too.

AUSTRAC tells sellers they may be asked for proof they own the property, and buyers how they are paying.

Can you rely on the conveyancer?

Yes. You can rely on identity checks by another reporting entity, such as the buyer’s conveyancer, case by case or under an arrangement. Your policies must say how you use and assess it.

Reliance covers collecting and verifying identity information, not the rest of CDD. See AML/CTF requirements for conveyancers.

What goes in your AML/CTF program?

Your risk assessment covers your customers, services, delivery channels and countries. AUSTRAC’s national risk assessment found real estate poses a high money laundering risk. See our guides to AML/CTF risk assessment and risk assessment methodology.

AUSTRAC’s free real estate program starter kit suits agencies with 15 or fewer personnel that only broker sales. If you do not fit all its criteria, you must assess what to change. Our starter kit guide covers set-up.

After onboarding, ongoing CDD means watching for unusual activity and updating customer information when it changes (our guide).

You keep most records for 7 years, lodge an annual compliance report and commission an independent evaluation at least every 3 years.

When do you report to AUSTRAC?

Lodge a suspicious matter report within 24 hours if it relates to terrorism financing, and within 3 business days otherwise. You must not tell the customer you have reported.

A threshold transaction report applies only when your agency receives or pays physical currency of A$10,000 or more. Cash deposits on a buyer’s bank statement are the bank’s report, not yours. See AUSTRAC reporting forms.

Frequently asked questions

Is it 15 days or 28 days to verify the other party?

28 days after exchange, or 3 days before the initially agreed settlement date, whichever is earlier. AUSTRAC’s starter kit said 15 days until its 10 June 2026 release, which followed amended Rules.

How long is a verification valid?

AUSTRAC’s guidance sets no fixed period. Your program decides when you re-verify, based on risk and on changes in the customer’s circumstances.

Do we verify every bidder, or only the buyer?

The service to a buyer starts when the transaction is reasonably expected to proceed. Under that test, the buyer whose offer proceeds is your customer; bidders and inspectors who never reach that point are not.

What about listings signed before 1 July 2026?

A customer you dealt with before then is a pre-commencement customer. You need not do CDD on them unless a suspicious matter report is due, or a significant change in the relationship lifts their risk to medium or high.

Does the A$10,000 threshold apply to the price or our commission?

No. There is no dollar threshold on the designated service itself. A$10,000 triggers a threshold transaction report, and only for physical cash your agency receives or pays.

What happens if an agency does not comply?

AUSTRAC can ask the Federal Court for a civil penalty. Under Australia’s AML/CTF Act (s 175), the maximum is A$36.4 million per contravention for a company and A$7.28 million for an individual. See AML non-compliance penalties.

Next steps

Five workflows, one record per sale

Each result is kept against the client record

Intake Details, documents and consent
Verify Identity, and beneficial ownership for entities
Screen PEP, sanctions and adverse media
Assess Risk rating and the decision
Monitor Ongoing monitoring and re-checks

Re-checks keep the client current. For repeat vendors and investors, Monitor runs ongoing re-checks.

Source: StackGo workflow definitions Reviewed 21 Oct 2026

Intake, Verify, Screen, Assess and Monitor run in that order; Monitor keeps the record current where the relationship continues.

Start with AUSTRAC’s starter kit getting started page, then our Tranche 2 hub for the wider picture.

StackGo’s IdentityCheck runs the checks on each party through five workflows and records the result and risk rating against the client. See StackGo for real estate.

Sources

The rules on this page come from these sources, checked on 21 October 2026. The law:

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (ss 5, 6 table 5, 26C, 29, 32, 37A, 38, 175)
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules 2025 (ss 6-32, 6-33)

AUSTRAC, scope and first steps:

AUSTRAC, customer due diligence:

AUSTRAC, program and ongoing CDD:

AUSTRAC, reviews, reports and penalties:

Other:

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