Progressing reforms to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws

The Australian Government is serious about preventing criminal abuse of our financial system. No legitimate business wants to assist the laundering of money which funds transnational, serious and organised crime.

The Attorney-General’s Department has today commenced the second stage of consultation on proposed reforms to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime.

These reforms will ensure Australia’s AML/CTF regime can more effectively deter, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorism financing and meet international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force - the international financial crime watch dog.

These reforms are long overdue, and Australia is one of a handful of countries that are not meeting the Financial Action Task Force’s requirement to regulate lawyers, accountants, trust and company service providers, real estate agents and dealers in precious metals and stones. These are known as tranche two entities.

The consultation papers released today outline detailed proposals for reform, and I invite all interested stakeholders to make a submission.

These papers respond to feedback provided in the first stage of consultation, which included targeted consultations and stakeholder submissions.

The Attorney-General’s Department will also be conducting roundtable discussions with affected sectors on sector-specific issues during this consultation stage.

The consultation papers are available on the Attorney-General's Department's consultation hub.

Submissions close 13 June 2024.