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The Federal Government has confirmed its intent to implement “tranche two” reforms, extending the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to designated non-financial businesses and professionals, including real estate agents.
This marks a significant regulatory shift. Agencies will be required to implement formal systems for customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and reporting suspicious activity.
Ray White is preparing early. This article outlines what’s changing, why it matters, and how our network will respond with clarity, capability, and confidence.
Overview of the 2026 AML Law Reforms
From 1 July 2026, real estate professionals will be formally regulated under Australia’s AML/CTF legislation.
Agents, buyers’ agents, and developers will be required to enrol with AUSTRAC, implement a compliant AML/CTF program, appoint a compliance officer, verify client identities, monitor transactions, report suspicious activity, and retain records for seven years. These are enforceable legal obligations, not optional guidelines.
Six key requirements for Australian real estate agents
From 1 July 2026, real estate professionals will face mandatory anti-money laundering obligations under federal law. Here are six key requirements every agent needs to prepare for:
Enrol and register with AUSTRAC
This is scheduled to start from 31 March and you must be registered before 1 July 2026.
Develop and maintain an AML/CTF program
Create a documented, risk-based program that controls and mitigates the AML risks relevant to your business.
Customer due diligence
From 1 July 2026, sales agents must verify the identity of vendors before providing estate agency services (and potentially buyers - AUSTRAC is currently reviewing principles around ‘deferred due diligence’ and sharing of verification information between agents and lawyers/conveyancers). Buyer’s agents will need to verify the identity of their purchasers.
Ongoing customer due diligence
Continue to assess and monitor customer risk throughout the relationship.
Reporting suspicious activity
Report any suspicious transactions or behaviours to AUSTRAC and submit an annual compliance report.
Record keeping
Retain records relating to customer verification and compliance activities for at least seven years.
What you need to do to prepare for July 2026
Here’s what you can do now to get ahead:
Appoint a compliance officer
Think about who you want to nominate to be your compliance officer - it might be a senior team member or you could take the role yourself if you’re a business owner. Larger business owners may want to consider engaging a person with prior expertise.
Start to understand your obligations
Know what’s required and how it applies to your role in property transactions. Ray White will provide further training and tools.
Diarise to enrol with AUSTRAC
You’ll need to register between 31 March and 30 June 2026.
Team training
Let your staff know what’s coming. Ray White and the AML platforms we partner with will help you roll out key messaging and learning.
Plan to build an AML/CTF program.
Begin thinking about how your business will structure and manage compliance. Resources and templates will follow, but your planning can start now - this will likely include AUSTRAC providing a ‘starter kit’ for small businesses that will include template AML risk assessments and compliance programs.
Get your records and systems right
Ensure you can store and access required documents securely for seven years - the AML platforms we will partner with will provide this functionality.
Stay up to date
Make sure you are reading the AML updates from Ray White corporate and doing the training available.
Third-party AML providers
We will likely partner with 2 or 3 AML providers so that they can provide our business owners with the tools they need to manage the six steps highlighted above. Our network needs to wait for further information before signing up with AML providers to ensure we complete our due diligence.
