AUSTRAC section 167 notice: what it asks and how to answer

People search “AUSTRAC s167 notice” when a compliance officer has a notice on the desk and is looking for a letter they can adapt. Checked against AUSTRAC’s obligations and compliance guidance on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. A different power is explained on AUSTRAC section 172A powers. Suspicious matter reporting is a separate job, on suspicious matter reports for Tranche 2. The sector map is /tranche-2.

What the notice is asking for

Practitioners use “section 167 notice” for AUSTRAC’s written power to require information or documents. The notice itself names the subject, the material, and the deadline. This page does not copy the section and it does not set a penalty. Failing to comply can be an offence.

The amount is not something a blog should invent. The answer is a compliance task, not a negotiation you design from a template. The compliance officer owns the response. Staff do not ring the customer to workshop what the file should say; if telling the customer would prejudice an investigation, that is a tipping-off problem and it belongs on the tipping-off page, not in a clever draft.

• Read the four edges. Who it is addressed to, what it asks for, how to send it, and the date. Those four beat a generic memo.
• Use records you hold. Answer from the program file, the customer file, and reports you made. Do not create a new story for the notice.
• One owner. The compliance officer, or the person covering that role, sends the reply. A shared inbox with no owner loses days.
• Ask for advice if the scope is unclear. Getting advice is allowed. Quietly dropping half the documents is not an answer.

A straight path, not a draft letter

The useful record is a short log: date received, who has it, what was gathered, what was sent, and when. That log is how a later reader shows the firm took the notice seriously. It is not a script for saying less than the notice asked.

Where the notice page stops

This page is the principle of a section 167 notice. It is not section 172A and it is not a suspicious matter guide. Those sit on AUSTRAC section 172A powers and suspicious matter reports for Tranche 2.

FreeAML does not receive the notice, does not decide privilege, and does not send the reply. If the program then requires a customer to be verified, that verification is a separate client-pays check.

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. Replying to a notice is not a check, and the firm suite does not include a notice response or a legal review of one. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not answer an AUSTRAC notice or decide which records the notice covers.

Frequently Asked Questions