A law practice can be a reporting entity when it provides a Table 6 designated service. This guide sorts common legal work into caught and not caught, with the relevant Act provisions.
Quick answer
It is the work, not the profession
Being a lawyer is not the test. The question is whether the practice provides one of the nine professional designated services in Table 6. Property transactions, client money and company and trust work are common examples. Litigation or advice that does not itself fall within a designated service may be outside scope.
Whether your business is a reporting entity depends on the designated services you provide — not on having an ABN or being based in Australia. Check AUSTRAC’s sector guidance, and seek professional advice for your situation.
The “Where” column shows whether each row is a designated service, an exclusion in the Act or an example from AUSTRAC’s guidance. Caught rows link to the article that covers them in full.
| Area | The work | Caught? | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property | Acting for the buyer or seller in a sale or purchase of real estate | Caught | Item 1 |
| Family law | Conveyancing to give effect to a binding financial agreement between separating parties | Caught | Item 1 |
| Family law | A property transfer made under a court or tribunal order | Not caught | Item 1, para (b) |
| Commercial and M&A | Negotiating, drafting or doing due diligence on the sale of a company or business | Caught | Item 2 |
| Tax | Tax advice on selling a company, before there is a transaction or an identified buyer | Not caught | AUSTRAC guidance, item 2 |
| Trust account | Holding sale proceeds, purchase funds or escrow money for a client in a transaction | Caught | Item 3 |
| Trust account | Receiving your own fees | Not caught | s 6(5C)(a) |
| Trust account | Receiving a judgment sum into trust and paying it on to the client | Not caught | s 6(5C)(c) |
| Banking and finance | Loan or subscription documents for a company raising debt or equity | Caught | Item 4 |
| Corporate | Selling or transferring a shelf company | Caught | Item 5 |
| Structuring | Registering a company with ASIC, or drafting and executing a trust deed, on instructions | Caught | Item 6 |
| Wills and estates | Drafting a will that establishes a testamentary trust | Not caught | Item 6 — “express trust” excludes testamentary trusts |
| Advisory | Acting as, or providing, a director, secretary, trustee or attorney for a client | Caught | Item 7 |
| Advisory | A fiduciary role you hold because a court or tribunal appointed you | Not caught | s 6(5E) |
| Corporate | Holding shares as nominee for a client | Caught | Item 8 |
| Corporate | Letting a client company use your office as its registered address | Caught | Item 9 |
| Any | Advising on the legal effect of terms in a contract — influencing a transaction without advancing it | Not caught | AUSTRAC guidance, item 1 |
| The Bar | A barrister’s work on a solicitor’s instructions, given in connection with a designated service | Not caught | s 6(6B) |
The Act — s 6(5B) table 6, item 1
“assisting a person in the planning or execution of a transaction, or otherwise acting for or on behalf of a person in a transaction, to sell, buy or otherwise transfer real estate, where: (a) the service is provided in the course of carrying on a business; and (b) the sale, purchase or other transfer is not pursuant to, or resulting from, an order of a court or tribunal”
Customer: the person. Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), s 6(5B) — table 6.
The Act — s 6(5B) table 6, item 3
“receiving, holding and controlling (including disbursing) or managing a person’s: (a) money; or (b) accounts; or (c) securities and securities accounts; or (d) virtual assets; or (e) other property; as part of assisting the person in the planning or execution of a transaction, or otherwise acting for or on behalf of a person in a transaction, in the course of carrying on a business (other than in a circumstance covered by subsection (5C))”
Customer: the person. Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), s 6(5B) — table 6.
The Act — s 6(5B) table 6, item 6
“assisting a person to plan or execute, or otherwise acting on behalf of a person in, the creation or restructuring of: (a) a body corporate (other than a corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006); or (b) a legal arrangement; in the course of carrying on a business”
Customer: the person and: (a) if the body corporate is a company and the service is creating the company—the beneficial owners and directors of the company; or (b) if the legal arrangement is an express trust and the service is creating the express trust—the trustee, settlor and beneficiaries of the trust. Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), s 6(5B) — table 6.
Lex-Brisbane Legal, a fictional Brisbane firm, holds client money for Tom Harris, who is buying a café business. Anita Sharma, the firm’s AML/CTF compliance officer, runs the matter in the Lex-AML Organisation Workspace; Tom only uses the Customer Portal.
One example of how a matter in a law firm can run in Lex-AML, which is configured around each organisation’s own AML/CTF program. The business and its customers are fictional, the identity and screening checks use demo providers, and no real customer information is shown. The organisation makes every customer due diligence decision. Not legal advice.
In the order the Act sets them, once the business provides a designated service.
If this is work you do
Lex-AML starts by recording the designated services your firm actually provides, then helps you organise your AML/CTF program, customer due diligence and audit trail around them.
How Table 6 reaches specified legal transaction, client-money and entity services.
Sources
Data as at 13 October 2026.
Lex-AML supports compliance workflows and record keeping. It does not provide legal advice, does not guarantee compliance, and does not replace professional judgement or advice from a qualified AML/CTF adviser or legal professional.