Who is covered
Australia's expanded AML/CTF regime began applying to additional designated services on 1 July 2026. Some services provided by legal professionals, accountants, conveyancers, real estate professionals and other businesses are now covered. A profession alone does not settle whether a particular business is a reporting entity; the services it provides need to be checked against AUSTRAC's current guidance.
What to put in place
For a business that provides a designated service, the practical questions are immediate: has it assessed its money-laundering and terrorism-financing risks, established an AML/CTF program, set up customer due diligence, identified who is responsible for reporting and record keeping, and applied to enrol? AUSTRAC says a business must apply to enrol within 28 days after it starts providing a designated service.
Where software helps
Software can help staff capture the information behind a decision, control who can see sensitive records, route a matter for human review and retain an auditable history. The workflow has to reflect the organisation's actual services and program. Software does not decide whether a legal obligation applies or replace professional advice about privilege, reporting or disclosure.
What to check next
The useful next step is to compare the organisation's current processes with AUSTRAC's up-to-date guidance. Record where information is entered twice, where an escalation depends on an inbox, and where an approver would struggle to reconstruct what happened. Those are concrete starting points for deciding whether a system change is needed.