Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment 2024

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment 2024

## What it does
This bill updates Australia's rules for catching money laundering and terrorism financing. It expands which businesses have to check who their customers are and report suspicious activity—now including real estate agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, lawyers, and cryptocurrency services. It also repeals an older 1988 law and consolidates everything into one modern framework.

## Why it matters
The financial world has changed a lot since the original laws were written, and criminals have found new ways to hide dirty money. This update closes gaps that let money launderers and terrorist financiers slip through, but it also means more businesses will need to do compliance work (which costs time and money).

## Key details
- **New regulated businesses**: Real estate agents, precious metals dealers, accountants, and crypto service providers now have legal obligations to verify customer identities and report suspicious transactions to AUSTRAC (the financial intelligence agency)
- **Lawyer protections**: The bill includes safeguards for legal professional privilege so lawyers can still give confidential advice, even under these new rules
- **Stronger investigative powers**: AUSTRAC gets expanded powers to examine records and gather information, with clearer rules about what they can do and who they can share information with

Official Description

Amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to: extend the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime to additional services that are recognised by the Financial Action Task Force as posing high money laundering and terrorism financing risks; reframe and clarify the AML/CTF program and customer due diligence obligations; enable the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to require the disclosure of information and conduct examinations; and update the AML/CTF regime to reflect changing business structures, technologies and illicit financing methodologies; and make consequential amendments. Also makes consequential or contingent amendments to 10 other Acts; and repeals the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 .

Committee Referrals

Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee; Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

11 Sept 2024

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

10 Dec 2024

Last checked by Crossbench

today

Full text indexed

today

🗳️

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

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