Why Your Real Estate Agent, Lawyer & Accountant Now Have to Ask Where Your Money Comes From
A plain-English guide to FATF, Australia's AML/CTF reforms, and why 90,000 businesses must now fight money laundering.
February 2026
Executive Summary
In 2015, FATF gave Australia a failing grade on regulating the professionals who help people buy property, set up companies, and move money. Lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents had zero AML/CTF obligations.
Australia knew about this since 2003 but failed to act through five separate consultation attempts, defeated by industry lobbying.
From 1 July 2026, six sectors must comply: real estate agents, lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, precious metals dealers, and trust/company service providers.
What Is Money Laundering and Why Should You Care?
The basics, from placement to integration
Imagine a drug dealer earns $5 million in cash. They cannot just walk into a bank and deposit it without raising suspicion. So they need to find ways to make that dirty money look clean. That process is called money laundering.
1. Placement
Getting cash into the financial system
2. Layering
Moving money to create confusion
3. Integration
Buying legitimate assets
Terrorism financing is the flip side. It is about stopping money from reaching terrorists. The twist is that terrorism can be funded with perfectly legal money. Together, these two issues are called AML/CTF.
Why should you care? Money laundering drives up house prices, funds organised crime and terrorism, and undermines the economy. When over $1 billion gets laundered through Australian real estate in a single year, everyone pays the price.
Who Is FATF and Why Does It Matter?
The global body that sets the rules on financial crime
In July 1989, the G7 nations created the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Today it has 40 members and covers more than 200 countries through regional partners. It has four main functions:
Recommendations 22, 23, 28 — the key rules requiring countries to regulate lawyers, accountants, real estate agents for AML/CTF compliance. Australia was rated Non-Compliant on all three.
FATF sends experts to assess each country and publishes a Mutual Evaluation Report (MER). Countries that fail badly can be grey-listed — making international business harder and more expensive.
Australia was warned repeatedly from 2023 that it was heading for the grey list if it didn't regulate professionals. The Attorney-General publicly confirmed the risk in May 2024.
What FATF Found When It Examined Australia in 2015
The report card that changed everything
The Big Four Banks Were Okay, But Nobody Else Was
Banks had reasonable compliance. But lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, precious stones dealers, and trust/company service providers had ZERO regulation. FATF said they had “a poor understanding of their ML/TF risks.”
No Dedicated AML/CTF Strategy
Australia had a strategy for organised crime, but not specifically for money laundering. Agencies focused on underlying crimes, not targeting the money laundering itself.
The Regulator Was Under-Resourced
AUSTRAC had ~40 staff supervising 13,600+ entities — one supervisor for every 340 businesses. Good at education, but insufficient enforcement.
Nobody Knew Who Really Owned What
Over 2 million company registrations with limited verification. Trustees not required to track beneficiaries. The same unregulated professionals handled company setup.
Australia Was Attracting Foreign Dirty Money
Confirmed as a significant destination for illicit funds from the Asia-Pacific region. Real estate was “particularly attractive” for parking foreign illicit funds.
The Verdict: FATF rated Australia Non-Compliant on Recommendations 22, 23, and 28. A failing grade on the exact thing FATF had been telling Australia to fix since 2003.
Why These Specific Professions? The "Gatekeeper" Concept
Each sector explained, with what they must now do
Why lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents? Why not plumbers or hairdressers? The answer: “gatekeepers” — professionals who stand at the doorway between the criminal world and the legitimate economy. FATF identified these professions in 2001 and required all member countries to regulate them from 2003.
Real Estate Professionals
Agents brokering the sale, purchase, or transfer of property
AUSTRAC sector guidance →Why this sector?
Property is the classic “integration” vehicle — the final stage where criminals use cleaned money to buy a real, valuable asset. Australian real estate was particularly attractive because property values are high, the market was internationally respected, and nobody was checking where the money came from.
What criminals actually do
A criminal might use offshore companies and nominees to purchase a $3M apartment in Sydney. The agent arranges the sale, the lawyer handles conveyancing, the accountant manages finances. None were required to ask about source of funds.
Obligations from 1 July 2026
- Enrol with AUSTRAC as a reporting entity
- Verify identity of both buyers and sellers (CDD)
- Assess and manage money laundering risks
- Report suspicious matters to AUSTRAC
- Report cash transactions of $10,000 or more
- Keep records for 7 years
- Train staff on AML/CTF obligations
Legal Professionals (Lawyers)
Legal practices providing designated professional services
AUSTRAC sector guidance →Why this sector?
Lawyers are perhaps the most powerful gatekeepers. They set up companies and trusts that hide ownership, handle large amounts of client money through trust accounts, facilitate property transactions, and provide a veneer of legitimacy. Law enforcement told FATF that access to company information was often delayed due to “obstacles posed by lawyers.”
Obligations from 1 July 2026
- Enrol with AUSTRAC, conduct CDD on clients, assess risks
- Report suspicious matters and keep records for 7 years
- AUSTRAC starter kit specifically designed for small legal practices
Conveyancers
Specialists handling the legal transfer of property
AUSTRAC sector guidance →Why this sector?
Conveyancers handle settlement, title transfers, and mortgage documentation. Since property is one of the highest-risk channels for money laundering in Australia, the people who physically process property transfers are a critical control point. If a conveyancer notices something suspicious — unusual funding sources, third-party payments, last-minute buyer changes — they are now required to act on it.
Obligations from 1 July 2026
- Same obligations as lawyers and real estate agents
- AUSTRAC has grouped conveyancers with legal professionals for guidance
- Small conveyancing practices can use AUSTRAC’s starter kit
Accountants
Accountants providing designated professional services
AUSTRAC sector guidance →Why this sector?
Accountants are involved in the “layering” and “integration” stages. They create financial structures that disguise money movement, prepare tax returns that legitimise illicit income, manage client accounts, and provide advice on structuring transactions to minimise scrutiny. An accountant who prepares a tax return for income from drug trafficking has, without knowing it, helped integrate criminal proceeds into the legitimate economy.
Obligations from 1 July 2026
- Enrol with AUSTRAC, verify client identities, assess risks
- Report suspicious activity, maintain records
- AUSTRAC has published a sector-specific starter kit for accountants
Dealers in Precious Metals, Stones & Products
Dealers buying or selling for physical currency or virtual assets
AUSTRAC sector guidance →Why this sector?
A criminal with $500,000 in drug cash can’t deposit it in a bank — but can buy diamonds, gold bars, or luxury watches. These items are portable, high-value, internationally valued, easy to resell, and historically traded with minimal identity checks. AUSTRAC’s National Risk Assessment confirmed high-value watches, jewellery, and designer goods regularly appear in Australian ML investigations.
Obligations from 1 July 2026
- Same core obligations: enrol, CDD, risk assessment, reporting
- Threshold: $10,000 in physical currency or virtual assets
- Can be a single transaction or linked transactions
Trust & Company Service Providers (TCSPs)
Businesses that set up and manage companies, trusts, and legal structures
Why this sector?
These businesses provide nominee directors and shareholders, meaning the real owner’s name never appears on any public register. FATF described them as “shell company factories” in enforcement cases. In Australia, company formation was often done by lawyers, accountants, or specialist TCSPs — none of whom had any obligation to check whether the company was being set up to launder money. This was the circular blind spot FATF identified in 2015.
Obligations from 1 July 2026
- Enrol with AUSTRAC when providing designated services
- Conduct CDD on beneficial owners
- Maintain records of company structures and ownership
How Australia Got From "Failing" to "Finally Acting"
A 20-year timeline of delay, penalties, and reform
Australia Is Not Alone
How other countries compare on regulating professionals
| Country | DNFBPs Regulated? | Key Trigger | Current Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | From July 2026 | FATF 2015 MER | Amendment Act passed Nov 2024 |
| USA | Partially (no lawyers/RE agents) | FATF 2016 MER | Still a gap. Rated NC on R.22, R.23, R.28 |
| UK | Since 2007 | EU Directives + FATF | Consolidating 23 supervisors into FCA |
| Canada | Partially (expanding) | FATF 2016 MER + Cullen Commission | FATF eval June 2026. Penalties up 40x |
| Philippines | Partially | Grey-listed 2021 | Working to exit grey list |
Notably, the United States is still rated Non-Compliant on all three DNFBP recommendations as of 2024. Australia is now moving faster than the US on this issue.
Key Terms
Glossary of AML/CTF terminology
| Term | What It Means |
|---|---|
| AML | Anti-Money Laundering. Laws and practices to stop criminals cleaning dirty money. |
| CTF | Counter-Terrorism Financing. Laws and practices to stop money reaching terrorists. |
| FATF | Financial Action Task Force. The international body that sets global AML/CTF standards. Based in Paris. |
| AUSTRAC | Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre. Australia’s AML/CTF regulator and financial intelligence unit. |
| DNFBPs | Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions. Lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, jewellers, and trust/company service providers. |
| Tranche 2 | The second wave of Australian AML/CTF regulation, covering DNFBPs. Effective 1 July 2026. |
| CDD | Customer Due Diligence. The process of verifying who a customer is and where their money comes from. |
| Beneficial Owner | The real person who ultimately owns or controls a company, trust, or other entity. |
| Grey List | FATF’s public list of countries with weak AML/CTF measures, under increased monitoring. |
| MER | Mutual Evaluation Report. FATF’s detailed assessment of a country’s AML/CTF system. |
| Gatekeeper | A professional who stands between the criminal world and the legitimate economy. |
| SMR | Suspicious Matter Report. A report submitted to AUSTRAC when a business suspects ML or TF. |
References & Further Reading
Sources used in this analysis
FATF & AUSTRAC Sources
- FATF — The 40 Recommendations (2012, amended 2025) Link
- FATF/APG — Mutual Evaluation Report: Australia (2015) Link
- FATF — Risk-Based Approach for Legal Professionals (2019) Link
- FATF — Risk-Based Approach for Real Estate Sector (2022) Link
- FATF — Australia’s 4th Enhanced Follow-Up Report (2024) Link
- AUSTRAC — Real Estate Guidance Link
- AUSTRAC — Legal Profession Guidance Link
- AUSTRAC — Accountant Guidance Link
- AUSTRAC — Conveyancer Guidance Link
- AUSTRAC — Precious Metals Guidance Link
- AUSTRAC — Summary of Obligations (Reform) Link
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Request Early AccessDisclaimer: This article is published by GetPost Labs Pty Ltd, a technology company building compliance software. All content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or compliance advice. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, this article may contain errors or omissions. Always refer to the authoritative text on legislation.gov.au and seek professional advice for your specific circumstances. If you spot an error or have a suggestion, please reach out to sumit@getpostlabs.io.