AML/CTF Amendment Bill introduced in Parliament

Today the Attorney-General introduced the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Amendment Bill 2024 into Parliament. The Bill and its explanatory materials are available on the Parliament of Australia website.

This Bill represents a significant step forward in protecting our community from financially enabled crime. It aims to strengthen the existing framework to better address the evolving threats posed by money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious and organised crime. 

If passed by the Parliament, the Bill would amend the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) and reform Australia’s AML/CTF regime to ensure it can effectively deter, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorism financing, and meet international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force.

Overview of the Bill

This Bill has three key objectives:

  1. extend the AML/CTF regime to additional services provided by lawyers, accountants, trust and company service providers, real estate professionals, and dealers in precious metals and stones (tranche two entities)
  2. modernise the regulation of virtual assets and payments technology
  3. simplify and clarify the regime, to increase flexibility, reduce regulatory impacts and support businesses to prevent and detect financial crime.

Consultation with industry on reforms to the AML/CTF regime

The Attorney-General’s Department and AUSTRAC consulted extensively on the proposed reforms over 2023 and 2024. 

Two formal rounds of consultation were held over 2023 and 2024, with seven consultation papers that provided the detail of the proposals. During this period, the Attorney-General’s Department and AUSTRAC held over 100 meetings and engagements with industry and government, including industry roundtables. 

The Attorney-General’s Department received over 270 written submissions. With consent, 217 submissions have been published on the department’s website. 

Read the responses to the first round of consultation.

Read the responses to the second round of consultation.

Further information 

For more information about reforms to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime, visit the Attorney-General’s Department website.