Item 54 only businesses: exemption most Tranche 2 firms can ignore

People search “item 54 designated service exemption” when a conveyancer hears about an item 54 exemption and wonders if it is a way out of enrolment. Checked against AUSTRAC’s page on who and what it regulates on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. The designated-services map firms actually need is Table 6 designated services. The Act-level list is designated services in the AML/CTF Act. The sector map is /tranche-2.

A narrow exemption, not a Tranche 2 exit

The item 54 designated service exemption circulates as a rumour that enrolment is optional. The rumour skips the condition in the name: the business provides only that item. A conveyancer transferring land, a firm preparing a designated accounting service, or an agency broking a sale is providing something else. They are outside the only-that-item class; they do not need this exemption, and they should not use it as a reason to wait.

This page will not quote the item and will not describe the service it covers. That text is in the Act and the Rules. AUSTRAC’s page on who is regulated is the official starting point for scope, and this article does not reproduce it. If a business genuinely provides no designated service except that single item, it reads the instrument with an adviser; that is a small group; it is not the Tranche 2 firm this site is written for.

• Read the condition. Only that item. A second designated service takes you out of the exemption’s premise.
• Name your real services. Conveyancing, legal, accounting, and real estate services are not waved through by a financial-services item you do not provide.
• Do not treat it as optional enrolment. Hearing an exemption number is not advice that you are exempt.
• Leave the text in the instrument. This page does not reproduce item 54. Copying a paraphrase into your program would be a mistake.

Who can leave the page

Where this page stops

This page is a warning to ignore a narrow exemption. It is not the decision tree. Use designated services decision trees for the services you do provide.

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. An exemption opinion is not included in the firm suite. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not apply the item 54 exemption to your firm.

Frequently Asked Questions