Your profession, plainly · DEALERS
You deal in precious metals, stones, or the beautiful things made from them. Since the first of July twenty twenty-six, one specific kind of sale brings you under Australia's anti-money-laundering law — and it is not every sale. It is the cash. Here is exactly where the line falls.
Since 1 July 2026
First, the frame. You are not regulated for who you are — you are regulated for one or two specific services the Act lists by name. Provide one, and you are what the law calls a reporting entity: enrolled with AUSTRAC, running a small program, checking who you deal with. Not a suspect. A gatekeeper.
buying or selling one or more of the following items in the course of carrying on a business, where the purchase involves the transfer of physical currency or virtual assets (or a combination of physical currency and virtual assets) with a total value of not less than $10,000, whether the purchase is made in a single transaction or in several transactions that are linked or appear to be linked: (a) precious metal; (b) precious stones; (c) precious products
The everyday gate
Day to day, the visible change is small. Before you provide that designated service, you confirm who your customer is — a couple of extra minutes for the honest ones, which is nearly everyone. The same gate for every customer. Routine, universal, nothing personal.
The program behind it
Behind the counter sits a small program: a risk assessment in your own words, policies your senior people adopt, one named compliance officer, and staff who have been trained. And the Act itself right-sizes it — your steps need only be appropriate to the nature, size and complexity of your business. Small firm, simpler program. Never nothing, but never a bank's program either.
The two triggers
And the second trigger is your own judgement. The buyer indifferent to price, the bag of cash for whatever is nearest the door — an honest suspicion starts a report clock of its own. The main series on this channel walks both reports, step by step.
The routine when cash crosses the line
When a cash sale does cross ten thousand, the routine is defined: identify the customer, and report the threshold transaction to AUSTRAC within ten business days. One warning to take seriously: never help a buyer split a payment to stay under the line — structuring is a criminal offence, for them and for anyone who assists. The safe answer is simple: report the pattern.
Write it down
And the habit that holds it all together: write things down when they happen. The check you ran, the question you asked, the call you made. Records keep for seven years — and the record of an honest process is the best protection your business can own.