AML for solicitors in NSW
A solicitor in New South Wales holds a practising certificate. That certificate does not enrol the firm with AUSTRAC; Law Society guidance explains the society’s material; it does not approve your program.
Quick answer
Enrol if the firm provides a designated service. Approve a program that describes those services, not every will file by default. The society’s page on this site is where the society material is discussed. This page is what the two-partner firm still does itself; staff who are not compliance specialists follow the program; they do not lodge enrolment; the firm suite is A$0; the client pays the check.
People search “AML for solicitors NSW” when a suburban New South Wales firm has read a Law Society note and has not lodged anything on AUSTRAC Online. Checked against AUSTRAC’s professional designated services page on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. The society material is Law Society NSW and AML. Checks for law firms generally are AML checks for lawyers. The sector map is /tranche-2.
The certificate, the society, the firm
New South Wales solicitors are used to a regulator that is not AUSTRAC. The practising certificate and the society’s guidance sit in that world. The AML/CTF Act sits in the other.
A two-partner firm can comply with the society and still have no enrolment receipt. Read the society note, then do the firm’s own work: decide which services are designated, enrol if they are, and approve a program. A will file that is not a designated service is not swept in by the fact that the firm also does transfers.
- Practising certificate. It authorises legal practice. It is not an AUSTRAC receipt.
- Society guidance. Read it. It does not customise your starter kit or appoint your officer.
- Designated services only. The program lists them. Other legal work stays outside that list.
- The firm lodges. A clerk cannot enrol the firm by attending a seminar.
What the suburban firm still does
A New South Wales firm’s own AML work. This table does not reproduce Law Society guidance.
| Step | Who does it | What does not count |
|---|---|---|
| Decide the designated services | The firm, in the program | A seminar attendance sheet |
| Enrol | The firm, on AUSTRAC Online | The practising certificate |
| Approve the program | The senior manager the program names | A society PDF saved to the matter |
| Customer due diligence | On the customer of that service | Every will client, by default |
Where the NSW solicitor page stops
This page is what the New South Wales firm still does itself. It is not a walk-through of the Law Society’s material, and it is not the national note on checks for lawyers. Those are Law Society NSW and AML and AML checks for lawyers.
What the client pays
On FreeAML the firm suite is A$0. The firm emails the client a link. Verification is client-pays. On the public list a personal KYC check is A$20 and a company or trust KYB check is A$40. Use KYB when the customer is a company or a trust. A practising certificate is not included in the firm suite, and the suite does not lodge a New South Wales firm’s enrolment. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not enrol a New South Wales firm or replace Law Society guidance.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The designated-service file still gets a client link.
The firm suite is A$0. The client pays. The firm emails a link. Personal KYC is A$20. Company or trust KYB is A$40.
Start a KYC checkQuestions: team@freeaml.com.au