AML/CTF — Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing. Always written with the slash, as the Act writes it.
AML/CTF compliance officer [s 5] — the Act's term (defined s 5, p 8) for the individual designated under s 26J(1) (p 102) to oversee and coordinate the program. Must be at management level with sufficient authority, independence and resources (s 26J(2)). Eligibility bars; 28 days to fill or refill the role (s 26K, p 103); AUSTRAC notification (s 26M, p 105). Sometimes called the "designated individual" — the Act does not use that phrase.
AML/CTF policies — the entity's policies, procedures, systems and controls dealing with the matters s 26F lists (risk management and compliance, including training, vetting and independent evaluation). One of the two living program documents.
AML/CTF Rules — the AML/CTF Rules 2025, subsidiary instrument made by the AUSTRAC CEO under s 229(1) (p 359); carries the operational detail. Binds like the Act does. Current compilation F2026C00274. (Made by the AUSTRAC CEO, not the Minister — a common slip.)
AUSTRAC — the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre: regulator of this regime and the national financial intelligence unit — two hats, one agency.
Beneficial owner [s 5] — an individual who ultimately owns (25% or more) or controls a customer. Two limbs; either suffices. A finding that no individual qualifies is itself a recordable finding.
Compilation / compilation ID — the registered consolidated version of an Act or instrument at a date, identified by a register ID (the Act's current: C2026C00274, No. 62, 1 July 2026). The ID pins exactly which words are being quoted — it's why every citation on this site carries one.
Customer due diligence (CDD) — the s 28+ machinery: identify the customer's ML/TF risk, then collect and verify information appropriate to that risk, on reasonable grounds, before providing the service — and keep it current afterwards (ongoing CDD, s 30).
Delayed CDD — s 29's narrow, pre-conditioned corridor allowing a service to commence before verification completes — six cumulative conditions, policies written in advance. A deferral, never a waiver.
Designated service [s 6] — an activity listed in the s 6 tables. Coverage attaches to the service, not the profession. The Tranche 2 services live in tables 2, 5 and 6.
Enhanced customer due diligence (EDD) — the stronger measures s 32 requires in specified higher-risk situations (e.g. foreign PEPs, post-SMR continuation).
Enrolment / Reporting Entities Roll — Part 3A registration with AUSTRAC. The Roll itself is kept by the AUSTRAC CEO under s 51C (p 170); enrolment must be applied for no later than 28 days after the day you commence providing a designated service (s 51B, p 169), with details kept current within 14 days of change (s 51F, p 171). Note the order: you are a reporting entity because you provide a designated service — the Roll records that status, it does not create it.
Legal professional privilege (LPP) — the client's protection over legal advice and certain communications. Expressly preserved: s 242 confirms the right to refuse privileged information or documents, and that describing material is not itself waiver; s 242A provides a claims guidelines regime.
LPP form [s 5] (new, 1 July 2026) — a written notice, in approved form, specifying the basis on which information or a document is claimed to be privileged. The regime's standard vehicle for privilege claims (see ss 41, 43(3)(aa), 26Q(2A), 49, 242A).
ML/TF risk — money laundering / terrorism financing risk. The variable the whole program reads: assessed for the business (s 26C), rated per customer (s 28(3)), driving verification depth, monitoring frequency and EDD triggers.
Ongoing CDD — s 30: monitoring the business relationship, keeping information current, re-verifying at a risk-appropriate frequency, and re-checking when doubts arise.
Politically exposed person (PEP) [s 5] — individuals in (or formerly in) prominent public positions, in three categories (foreign, domestic, international-organisation), extending to family members and known close associates. A risk category, not an accusation — foreign PEPs trigger mandatory EDD.
Pre-commencement customer — a customer of the entity from before 1 July 2026: initial CDD is deferred to defined triggers (s 36), while ongoing monitoring applies. Deferral, not grandfathering.
Reliance — the s 37A mechanism letting one entity rely on another's CDD under a written agreement with assessments — the doing moves; the legal obligation never does.
Reporting entity [s 5] — a person who provides a designated service. The status that carries the obligations. It attaches from providing the service, not from enrolling, and not from any AUSTRAC decision.
Reporting group — related entities grouped under s 10A, with a lead entity and the ability for one member to discharge obligations for another (s 236B) — discharge of performance, not transfer of ownership.
Structuring — s 142 (p 270): being, or causing another person to become, a party to two or more non-reportable transactions for the sole or dominant purpose of ensuring the money would not give rise to a threshold transaction. A criminal offence — and note the Act reaches the person who causes another to become a party, so arranging a split for a customer is caught.
Suspicious matter report (SMR) — the s 41 report (p 146) when suspicion on reasonable grounds forms in connection with a designated service. Three clocks, all in s 41(2) (p 148): 3 business days standard; 5 business days where s 41(2)(aa) applies (some — not all — of the report's information may be privileged, and the privilege belongs to someone other than you); 24 hours for terrorism financing. Under s 41(2A) the report may be refused entirely where all the information grounding the suspicion is privileged.
Threshold transaction [s 5] / TTR — movement of $10,000 or more in physical currency (or virtual assets) in a designated service; reported within 10 business days (s 43(2), p 151). "Not less than $10,000" — the threshold includes exactly $10,000. Routine — not a suspicion. Where the report contains information believed privileged, it must be accompanied by an LPP form (s 43(3)(aa)).
Tipping off — s 123 (p 251): the criminal offence of disclosing SMR-related information where the disclosure would or could reasonably be expected to prejudice an investigation. Penalty: imprisonment for 2 years or 120 penalty units, or both. The reason report status is never discussed with anyone, in either direction — the safe practice is one identical answer for every customer.
Tranche 2 — the common (non-statutory) name for the professions brought into the regime from 1 July 2026: legal, conveyancing, accounting, real estate, and dealers in precious metals and stones. The phrase appears nowhere in the Act. It comes from the explanatory memorandum to the amending Bill, which gives it as an aside while setting out the first of the Bill's three key objectives:
to extend the AML/CTF regime to certain higher-risk services provided by real estate professionals, professional service providers including lawyers, accountants and trust and company service providers, and dealers in precious stones and metals—also known as 'tranche two' entities
Explanatory Memorandum, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024 (Cth), General Outline para 7, printed pages 2–3. Explanatory material, not law.
Two things that paragraph shows. It names trust and company service providers, which the common five-profession shorthand drops; and it does not name conveyancers at all — conveyancing is caught the same way everything else is, by the service in table 6 rather than by the job title. Which is the point: the memorandum explains the intent, it does not set the scope. Section 6 of the Act does that.
Maintenance: when adding a term, mark statutory definitions [s 5], give a printed-page pinpoint, and use the Act's own vocabulary rather than the trade shorthand. Quote nothing as law without a pinpoint. Review "LPP form", "SMR" and "Legal professional privilege" first whenever the Act is recompiled. © 2026 GetPost Labs Pty Ltd; legislative material © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0.