Important: New AML/CTF requirements commencing 1 July 2026

From 1 July 2026, anti‑money laundering and counter‑terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws are being expanded to include a broader range of professional services, including accounting firms.

The new law requires that accounting firms complete extra identification and due diligence checks on both new and existing clients before certain designated services can be provided.

These reforms mark one of the most substantial regulatory changes to affect the accounting profession in recent decades. While the purpose is to strengthen Australia’s response to financial crime, we recognise that clients may have questions about what this means in practice, particularly around identification requirements, information requests, and onboarding processes.

What is AML/CTF?

Australian AML/CTF laws are designed to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing from entering the financial system.

What is changing and why?

From 1 July 2026, Australia’s AML/CTF laws are being expanded to align with international standards, with the objective to reduce the risk of financial crime.

Historically, Australia’s AML/CTF regime has focused on banks, financial institutions and gambling providers. However, international standards have increasingly recognised that professional service providers, including accountants, lawyers and trust and company service providers, can be exposed to money laundering or terrorism financing risks when assisting with certain activities.

The expanded requirements will apply to a range of designated services provided by accountants which are considered higher-risk, including:

• Company, trust and SMSF establishment
• Assisting with the sale / purchase / transfer of entities
• Certain company secretarial services
• Holding or managing client money

Our firm will be required to enrol with AUSTRAC, to maintain certain records in connection with AML/CTF laws, and to report on suspicious matters.

What does this mean for you?

For most clients, no action is required now. We will contact you if we need anything.

If you commence or continue to receive a designated service from us, or there are changes to your ownership structure, or our existing identification documentation is incomplete or out of date, we will contact you with a request for information to ensure we comply with the expanded AML/CTF laws.

To help us comply we may ask you to:

• Provide us with documentation to verify your identity (for example, a copy of your passport).
• Provide us with details to allow us to identify all directors and shareholders of companies or beneficiaries and controllers of trusts.
• Answer questions around the purpose of new entities, your source of funds for transactions, or to explain your wealth to allow us to appropriately assess and document risk.

‍Our commitment to you

We are conducting firm-wide training and updating our internal systems and processes to ensure that we are compliant with the expanded AML/CTF laws.  Our responsible person for AML/CTF matters is Ross Brown. Our goal is to meet these new obligations whilst keeping the client experience as smooth, efficient and respectful as possible.

While regulatory change can feel disruptive, these reforms are designed to strengthen trust, transparency and protection across Australia’s financial system.

We remain committed to delivering responsive, professional advice, and to guiding our clients through these changes with clarity and care.

Privacy and data security are critical. Your personal data is collected and used by us only for identity verification and AML/CTF compliance.  It is handled in accordance with Australian privacy laws and our professional obligations both with the Tax Practitioners Board and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

All client data is stored in secure and tested local servers at our offices, or in data centres operated by major providers such as Microsoft and MYOB.  We also store client data in a secure off-site backup operated by our IT vendor, Dataline Networks. Multi-factor authenticator protection is enabled wherever available.

If you have any questions about these changes or how they may affect you, please contact your usual Baumgartners contact.