Reforming Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime

Overview

The Australian Government is committed to protecting Australians and preventing criminal abuse of our financial system. Reforms to Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime are required to ensure it continues to effectively deter, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorism financing, and meet international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global financial crime watchdog.

The AML/CTF regime establishes a regulatory framework for combatting money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious financial crimes. At its core, the AML/CTF regime is a partnership between the Australian Government and industry. No legitimate business wants to unwittingly assist money laundering. Through the regulatory framework, businesses are asked to play a vital role in detecting and preventing criminals from misusing their sectors and products to launder money and fund terrorism.

As the Attorney-General announced in April 2023, we are consulting on reforms to the regime. We held our first round of stakeholder consultation between April and June last year.

We have considered the feedback from the first round of consultation and have used it to develop the detailed reform proposals outlined in the following second stage consultation papers:

• Reforming Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime - Overview [PDF 214 KB]
• Paper 1: Further information for real estate professionals [PDF 306 KB]
• Paper 2: Further information for professional service providers [PDF 400 KB]
• Paper 3: Further information for dealers in precious metals and precious stones [PDF 284 KB]
• Paper 4: Further information for digital currency exchange providers (DCEPs), remittance service providers and financial institutions [PDF 338 KB]
• Paper 5: Broader reforms to simplify, clarify and modernise the regime (which will apply to current and new proposed reporting entities) [PDF 1.7 MB]

How we are consulting

We are seeking views from all stakeholders, including both current and proposed new reporting entities, to ensure that the reforms improve the current regime.

We invite public submissions on the proposals discussed in the second stage consultation papers. While questions are included in the paper to guide consultations these are not intended to limit responses.

We retain discretion about publishing and sharing submissions. We may publish submissions on this consultation hub, where we have permission to do so. We may also redact parts of published submissions if appropriate.

To provide your response follow the 'Have your say' link at the bottom of this page. If you have challenges providing your submission online, you can email it to economiccrime@ag.gov.au.

The department will also conduct roundtable discussions with stakeholders. Engagement with industry will be undertaken on sector-specific issues as required.