Franchise group: reporting group or each office enrols

People search “franchise AML reporting group” when a franchisor tells franchisees that head office has enrolled the brand, so the local office can stop. Checked against AUSTRAC’s page on forming reporting groups on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. What a reporting group is between related entities is reporting groups and related entities. Enrolment for a single business is the AUSTRAC enrolment guide. The sector map is /tranche-2.

The brand is not the group

A real estate franchise looks like one business to a vendor and like many businesses to AUSTRAC, and each franchisee usually has its own ABN, its own trust account, and its own sales. A reporting group is a specific arrangement in the regime, formed the way AUSTRAC describes. The franchise agreement, the brand standards, and a shared intranet are not that formation. This page does not reproduce the forming-groups guidance and does not tell a network that it qualifies.

Until a group exists, the local office that provides a designated service is the business that looks at enrolment. Head office looks at enrolment too if head office itself provides a designated service, rather than only licensing a name. One does not cover the other by optimism.

• Read who provides the service. The office that takes the listing and deals with the buyer is the usual starting point, not the brand on the jacket.
• Do not treat the manual as formation. A clause that says head office handles compliance is a contract between franchisor and franchisee. It is not an AUSTRAC reporting group.
• Head office can still have its own duty. If head office provides a designated service, head office has its own question, separate from the offices.
• Write the answer per business. A shared slide called group policy is not an enrolment and not a formed group.

Brand, office, and a formed group

The sector obligations for an agency, group or not, are real estate AML compliance. This page stays with the franchise structure question.

Where the franchise page stops

This page is why a brand is not a reporting group. It is not the formation procedure and it is not a single office’s enrolment form. FreeAML does not form the group or enrol the offices.

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 group arrangement does not merge customer checks into one firm invoice, and each check the program requires is still client-pays. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not form your reporting group or enrol a franchisee.

Frequently Asked Questions