AML Obligations for Real Estate Agents Australia: What Applies Now

Who is captured by the real estate AML rules?

AUSTRAC guidance states that a real estate business is likely to provide real estate designated services if it works as a buyer’s or seller’s agent, or if it is a property developer or other business selling house and land packages, off-the-plan apartments or blocks of land in new subdivisions without using independent real estate agents to broker the sales.

The legal trigger is the provision of a designated service with a geographical link to Australia. Real estate businesses should therefore assess each service line rather than assuming the answer follows from an industry label. A suburban sales agency, a buyer’s agency, a project marketing business and a developer with in-house sales staff may all need AML/CTF controls, but the onboarding points and risk controls will differ.

Businesses that only provide property management, short-term leasing or incidental property disposal services should still check the legislation and AUSTRAC guidance carefully. The core real estate designated services focus on brokering, selling, purchasing or transferring real estate interests. A mixed agency should map sales, buyer advocacy, leasing, management and development activities separately.

What counts as real estate?

AUSTRAC guidance explains that real estate covers ownership and ownership-like interests in land. This includes ordinary freehold ownership, leasehold interests of more than 30 years and certain land use entitlements, such as rights to occupy land through shares in a company or units in a unit trust scheme.

The concept is wider than suburban residential sales. It can include house and land packages, off-the-plan apartments, subdivision lots, some long leasehold interests and certain land use entitlement structures. It may also extend to an equivalent interest in foreign land, although an Australian AML/CTF obligation still depends on the designated service having a geographical link to Australia.

AUSTRAC also identifies exclusions. Leases of 30 years or less, easements, restrictive covenants, mortgagee interests and dwellings not attached to land where the resident leases the underlying land may fall outside the real estate definition for this purpose. These exclusions matter for agencies and developers with leasing, retirement living, caravan park, land access or mixed-tenure operations.

Why both buyer and seller may be customers

A major workflow change for real estate businesses is that both sides of a transaction can be customers for AML/CTF purposes. AUSTRAC gives the example of a real estate agent acting for the seller and brokering the successful sale of a house. In that scenario, the agent’s customer may be both the buyer and the seller.

That is a different analysis from ordinary agency law and commercial engagement terms. A seller’s agent may have a written agency agreement with the vendor, but the buyer can still become a customer for the designated service once it is reasonably expected that the transaction will proceed. A buyer’s agent may face the inverse issue for the seller or transferor.

The business should decide who collects information, who verifies it, who reviews exceptions and how the process works when the other side is represented by another professional. A seller’s agent cannot safely assume that a conveyancer’s or solicitor’s separate checks automatically discharge the agent’s own obligations unless the law, the agency’s AML/CTF program and the relevant arrangements support that approach.

When customer due diligence must happen

Customer due diligence, often called CDD or KYC, requires the reporting entity to identify the customer and understand the money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks associated with providing the designated service. CDD should be designed around actual transaction workflows rather than a generic identity-checking script.

For seller’s agents, AUSTRAC guidance indicates the service to the seller or transferor starts when the agreement to broker the sale or transfer is signed. For the buyer or transferee, it typically starts when it is reasonably expected that the transaction will proceed, such as when the offer is accepted and the contract is signed.

For buyer’s agents, the service to the buyer or transferee generally starts when the agreement to find or identify a property is signed. The service to the seller or transferor may start once it is reasonably expected that the transaction will proceed.

Auctions require a separate process. AUSTRAC acknowledges that a buyer may only be known after the fall of the hammer and that delayed initial CDD may be available where completing initial CDD would disrupt the ordinary course of business. Agencies still need a documented post-auction process that moves quickly from contract signing to CDD completion, risk rating and escalation where necessary.

What an AML/CTF program needs to cover

An AML/CTF program is the internal framework that explains how the business identifies, assesses, manages and mitigates financial crime risk. AUSTRAC expects newly regulated entities to have an AML/CTF program, an AML/CTF compliance officer, staff training and readiness to report suspicious matters.

For a real estate business, the program should usually address:

• governance, including senior responsibility for AML/CTF compliance;
• appointment and authority of the AML/CTF compliance officer;
• a business risk assessment covering customers, property types, transaction types, locations, delivery channels and payment patterns;
• initial customer due diligence for individuals, companies, trusts and other entities;
• beneficial ownership and control checks for non-individual customers;
• enhanced customer due diligence for higher-risk matters;
• procedures for auctions, off-the-plan sales, nominee purchasers and third-party funds;
• screening, escalation and suspicious matter reporting;
• controls to reduce tipping-off risk;
• record keeping and privacy controls;
• staff training for sales, administration, management and compliance personnel; and
• oversight of outsourced identity verification, screening or AML support providers.

A program prepared for a small residential agency should look different from a program for a developer selling high-value off-the-plan apartments to local and offshore buyers. The document should reflect the business model, not only the text of the legislation.

Practical risk areas for property businesses

Real estate AML/CTF compliance will be tested in the moments where ordinary sales pressure meets unusual transaction behaviour. Those risks should be addressed before staff are expected to make judgment calls in live negotiations.

Implementation checklist

Real estate businesses should move from awareness to implementation. The following steps create a practical starting point for agency principals, directors and compliance managers.

1. Map designated services. Identify sales, buyer advocacy, development, project marketing, transfer and related activities that may be real estate designated services.
2. Confirm enrolment status. If the business provides a new designated service that commenced on 1 July 2026, check whether it must apply to enrol with AUSTRAC by 29 July 2026.
3. Identify customers at each transaction stage. Record when the seller, buyer, transferor or transferee becomes a customer for AML/CTF purposes.
4. Build the AML/CTF program. Prepare a program that reflects the agency’s services, transaction types, customer base, locations, delivery channels and payment arrangements.
5. Appoint and support the compliance officer. Give the AML/CTF compliance officer enough authority, time and information to supervise the program.
6. Update transaction workflows. Align listing forms, buyer engagement processes, auction scripts, contract exchange checklists and settlement support with CDD obligations.
7. Review contracts and privacy documents. Update agency agreements, buyer agency terms, developer sales processes, privacy notices and vendor contracts where needed.
8. Train relevant staff. Train principals, sales agents, property consultants, project sales teams, administration staff and managers on their actual role in the program.
9. Test escalation pathways. Use realistic scenarios involving nominees, third-party funds, unusual urgency, reluctant customers or inconsistent information.

The program should help ordinary transactions proceed efficiently while giving staff a defensible process for identifying, escalating and documenting higher-risk matters.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• AUSTRAC, New reporting regime now in force
• AUSTRAC, Real estate designated services
• AUSTRAC, Enrol with us overview
• AUSTRAC, About the reforms
• AUSTRAC, Our regulatory expectations and priorities
• AUSTRAC, Future Law Compilation of the AML/CTF Act
• AUSTRAC, Real estate program starter kit: getting started