Lawyers, accountants, and real-estate professionals enter the AML/CTF regime from July 2026. The playbook from banking doesn't transplant cleanly — here's a right-sized program design.
The AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024 extends the regime to tranche-two entities — legal practitioners, accountants, real-estate professionals and dealers in precious metals — with obligations commencing 1 July 2026.
The scale is unprecedented: AUSTRAC's regulated population grows from roughly 17,000 to over 100,000 entities, most of them small practices with no compliance function.
A right-sized program starts with the ML/TF risk assessment: which designated services do you actually provide, to whom, through which channels? For a suburban conveyancer the answer is narrow — and the program should be too.
Key dates: enrolment opens March 2026; programs and customer due diligence must operate from 1 July 2026. Waiting for the final Rules to start is a mistake — the Act's architecture is settled.
Disclaimer
General information only — not legal, financial or professional advice. Verify obligations against the current instruments and your entity's circumstances.