From 1 July 2026, Australia's AML/CTF regime extends to Tranche 2 businesses - and law firms and legal practitioners are squarely in scope when they provide a designated service. AML/CTF Compliance helps you meet the new obligations without building everything from a blank page.
When are law firms captured?
You are captured when you provide a designated service under the AML/CTF regime. For law firms, that typically includes assisting a client to buy, sell or transfer real estate, managing client money, accounts or assets, and helping to create, operate or manage companies, trusts or other legal arrangements. Not every activity is a designated service, so the built-in Tranche 2 readiness check helps you work out whether, and for which services, you are captured. Confirm your position against AUSTRAC guidance.
What you need to have in place
- Enrol with AUSTRAC as a reporting entity.
- An AML/CTF Program - a business-wide ML/TF risk assessment plus the policies, procedures, systems and controls that manage those risks.
- An AML/CTF Compliance Officer to own the program.
- Customer due diligence - identify and verify customers and beneficial owners before you provide a designated service, and keep it current.
- Reporting - lodge suspicious matter reports, and any threshold or international transfer reports, on time.
- Records, training and an independent review at appropriate intervals.
How AML/CTF Compliance helps law firms
It turns the obligations into a workflow: build and maintain your AML/CTF Program from guided templates, run structured CDD with PEP and sanctions screening, score your ML/TF risk across customers, services, channels and jurisdictions, track your AUSTRAC reporting register, and export a review-ready report for your independent reviewer or principal. Everything stays in your browser - the contents of your program and CDD files are never uploaded.
Legal professional privilege
Legal practices have specific considerations, including legal professional privilege, when assessing and reporting suspicions. The reporting register lets you record your suspicion assessment and flag privilege where relevant, so decisions are documented and defensible. This is guidance only - take your own advice on how privilege applies to your obligations.
Frequently asked questions
Are lawyers captured by the AML/CTF Tranche 2 reforms?
Lawyers and law firms are captured when they provide a designated service, such as assisting with real estate transactions, managing client money, or helping create or manage companies and trusts. The readiness check helps you confirm your position.
Does the tool handle legal professional privilege?
It lets you record your suspicion assessment and flag privilege in the reporting register so decisions are documented. It is guidance only and does not replace legal advice on how privilege applies.