From 1 July 2026, new anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) laws overseen by AUSTRAC will apply to certain legal services in Australia. These changes are being introduced at a national level and will apply across the legal profession, as well as to a range of other professional service industries being brought into the expanded AML/CTF regime. The new compliance measures are to help protect the Australian financial system from criminal activity, similar to the identity checks you may have already experienced with your bank or financial institution..
As a result, we may be required to carry out certain client due diligence before we start working on a new matter for you. Depending on the nature of the work, we may require you to provide us with information relating to your identity, beneficial ownership and control, the purpose and nature of the transaction and, in some cases, the source of funds and wealth required for the transaction. This is most likely to arise during matters involving property and commercial transactions, companies, trusts and business structures, and some other services that are now defined as services that are covered by the new laws.
For our clients involved in gaming and regulated venues, the concepts behind these requirements may already be familiar. However, from 1 July 2026, they will also form part of the compliance obligations applying to law firms when providing the services referred to above.
In practical terms, this means we may need to ask you for additional information or supporting documents, even where we have acted for you for many years. In some cases, we may also need to update information we already hold to meet our legal obligations.
We appreciate that, particularly for long-standing clients, some of these requests may feel new, unnecessary or even intrusive. With that in mind, our aim is to deal with these new legal requirements as efficiently and sensibly as possible, while continuing to provide the same practical and responsive service you are used to.
We reiterate that these obligations have been imposed nationwide on all professional service practices and must be complied with if the relevant transaction is covered by the new legislation. There may occasionally be circumstances where we are unable to commence work, continue acting, or complete a transaction, until required information has been provided and our obligations have been satisfied.
If you would like to discuss these changes or what they may mean for your matters, please contact us.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
