From 1 July 2026, Australia's anti-money-laundering regime extends to lawyers, conveyancers and real estate agents: the 'tranche 2' reforms. AUSTRAC enrolment opened on 31 March 2026, and every firm providing designated services must be enrolled by 29 July 2026. What it means in practice: formal identity verification for every buyer and seller, source-of-funds questions on some matters, and a little more paperwork at the start of every transaction.
For twenty years, Australia's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime applied to banks, casinos and remitters but stopped short of the professions. That ends on 1 July 2026. Under the AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024, the regime extends to 'tranche 2' entities: lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, real estate agents and trust and company service providers. Property transactions sit squarely at the centre of the change, because real estate has long been identified as a preferred vehicle for laundering funds in Australia.
The key dates
- 31 March 2026: AUSTRAC enrolment opened for newly regulated businesses.
- 1 July 2026: AML/CTF obligations commence for tranche 2 entities providing designated services.
- 29 July 2026: deadline to enrol with AUSTRAC (28 days after obligations commence) for firms already providing designated services.
What regulated firms must do
A firm captured by the regime becomes an AUSTRAC reporting entity. That carries a defined set of obligations: enrolment; a written AML/CTF program built on a documented money-laundering and terrorism-financing risk assessment; customer due diligence (verifying the identity of clients before providing designated services); ongoing monitoring; suspicious matter reporting to AUSTRAC; and record-keeping for seven years. These are not aspirational standards. Civil penalties for non-compliance run to tens of millions of dollars for corporate contraventions.
What buyers and sellers will notice
From 1 July, expect every professional in your transaction (your lawyer, your agent, and in some cases your accountant) to ask for formal identification before work begins, even where they have acted for you before. On some matters you may also be asked about the source of the funds being used to settle. This is not the professional doubting you; it is a legal obligation with serious penalties behind it, applied to every client on the same terms.
How LAS is approaching it
LAS Lawyers is enrolling with AUSTRAC and building the risk assessment, verification and reporting framework into our existing intake process, so for clients, the change lands as one extra step at engagement rather than friction at settlement. It also complements something we already tell every client: verify account details by phone before transferring funds. The same discipline that protects you from payment-redirection fraud is the discipline the AML/CTF regime now asks of the whole industry.
If you are transacting through the change-over (exchanging in June, settling in July), nothing about your contract or settlement mechanics changes. The new obligations sit on the professionals, not on the parties. What changes is the paperwork at the front door.
On a matter related to this?
The general information in this briefing isn't a substitute for advice tailored to your circumstances. If you're working on a conveyancing matter and want a partner's view, get in touch.