Plain-English answers about AUSTRAC and the AML/CTF Act.
Written for real estate agents, buyers agents, property managers: what the law asks, by when, and how a small firm meets it without a consultant.
Do real estate agents need to register with AUSTRAC?Yes. From 1 July 2026, real estate agents and buyers agents who broker the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate are reporting entities and must enrol with AUSTRAC within 28 days.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- Designated services for real estate agents under the AML/CTF Act
Which real estate activities are designated services: brokering a sale, purchase or transfer, and receiving deposits into a trust account. What is left out.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- AUSTRAC enrolment for real estate agencies: step by step
What to gather, where to enrol, the 28-day deadline and what to do in the same week.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
Customer due diligence for real estate agents: who is your customer, and when to verifyHow CDD works for an agency: the vendor when you sell, the buyer when you are a buyer's agent, what to collect, and when the service starts.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- KYC for real estate agents in Australia: vendor and purchaser identification
Practical identification for agencies: which documents count, how to verify a vendor you never meet, what to record and for how long.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
AML/CTF and auction day: what an agent must have done before the hammer fallsHow customer due diligence fits an auction campaign: verify the vendor at engagement, what to record about the successful bidder, and deposits taken on the day.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
AML/CTF and real estate trust accountsReceiving deposits into a trust account is a designated service. What that means for recording, reporting and your program.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
Suspicious matter reports for real estate agentsWhen an agent must report to AUSTRAC, the 3-business-day deadline, the red flags in property transactions and the tipping-off rule.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
Threshold transaction reports: cash of AU$10,000 or more in a property dealWhen an agency must lodge a TTR: physical cash of AU$10,000 or more received in connection with a sale, within 10 business days.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- AML checklist for real estate agents in Australia
A one-page AML/CTF checklist for an agency: enrolment, program, compliance officer, client due diligence, trust account, reporting, records and training.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- AML/CTF training for real estate staff
What sales and admin staff must be trained on, how often, and how to record it for AUSTRAC.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- AML penalties for real estate agents in Australia
The civil penalties, remedial directions and criminal offences under the AML/CTF Act, and how AUSTRAC has said it will approach Tranche 2 businesses in the first years.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- Choosing AML software for a real estate agency: what to look for
How to compare AML/CTF software for a small agency: the obligations it must cover, what to ignore, and the questions to ask any vendor.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- REINSW, REIV, REIQ and AML/CTF: what the institutes expect
How AML/CTF obligations sit alongside membership of the state real estate institutes, and where to find their guidance.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- How money laundering uses Australian property, and why agents are now gatekeepers
The typologies behind the Tranche 2 reforms: cash-rich buyers, third-party funding, layered ownership and rapid resales, and what an agent is expected to notice.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
- AML/CTF obligations for property developers who sell direct
Developers selling their own stock are reporting entities from 1 July 2026. What that means when there is no agent in between.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
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