Keep-open notices: rare, but know the term

People search “AUSTRAC keep open notice” when a partner has never seen a keep-open notice and would not recognise the letter. Checked against AUSTRAC’s tipping-off page on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. What you must not tell a client is tipping off. Compulsory powers more broadly are section 172A powers. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Recognise the letter, then stop improvising

An AUSTRAC keep-open notice is a term worth knowing because it is uncommon. A partner who has never seen one can drop the letter into a general inbox and carry on, or can do the opposite and end the retainer in a way that reveals why. Both are failures of recognition. The notice is a direction; it is not a newsletter, and it is not a prompt to design a clever exit.

This page will not say how to comply with a notice you have received. It will not suggest a way to close the file regardless. It will not draft what the customer may be told. Discussing the notice with the customer can be the harm the tipping-off rules are about; AUSTRAC’s tipping-off page is the official source beside this term; this article does not reproduce it; if a notice is on the desk, read that notice and take advice.

• Know the name. A keep-open notice is a formal direction. It should not sit with the marketing mail.
• Do not brief the client. This page gives no form of words. Silence about the notice is the principle, not a script.
• Do not invent an exit. Ending the relationship to get around the direction is not a method this page will describe.
• Get advice on the letter you have. The notice you received controls. A general article does not.

What the term is, and is not

Where this page stops

This page is the term. It is not the suspicious-matter procedure. That procedure, at principle level, is suspicious matter reports for Tranche 2.

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. Responding to a notice is not included in the firm suite. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not respond to a keep-open notice or tell you what the customer may be told.

Frequently Asked Questions