Charity or NFP as a property client
A charity or other not-for-profit is still a customer on a property file. The charitable purpose does not replace the entity, and it does not replace the people who control it.
Quick answer
A law firm acting for a charity on a hall purchase identifies the customer the program names, such as an association, a company limited by guarantee, or a trustee. The board's cause is not a beneficial owner. The firm emails a link for the entity check and for each individual the program requires. The client pays those checks.
People search “not for profit customer AML” when a law firm is acting for a local charity buying a hall and wonders if the cause softens customer due diligence. Checked against AUSTRAC's initial CDD guide for bodies corporate and associations on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. The general requirements page is customer due diligence requirements. The sector map is /tranche-2.
The cause is not the customer
Not for profit customer AML files often arrive with a donation receipt, a committee minute, and a request to keep the check light. The purpose explains why they want the hall, and it does not identify the association or the company. Your program names the customer type. You follow that, including the people who control the entity.
An unincorporated group is the awkward file, because there may be no separate legal person. The program, read with the customer-type guidance, says who you identify. A social page is not that person. This page does not invent a document list for them.
- Name the legal person first. Association, company limited by guarantee, or trustee. The word charity is not a customer type.
- Then name who controls it. Office holders can matter even when nobody owns a share. Control is not cancelled by the cause.
- Do not accept a receipt as KYB. A donation receipt shows money moving. It does not identify the customer.
- Price the structure you actually have. A company or trust customer is KYB. Each individual the program adds is a separate KYC check.
Which not-for-profit is on the file
A sorting aid for a charity buying property. This table does not reproduce AUSTRAC's customer-type guidance.
| Customer in front of you | What you identify | The shortcut that fails |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporated association | The association, and the people who control it | The cause as a reason to skip CDD |
| Company limited by guarantee | The company, then the individuals the program names | A receipt in place of the company check |
| Unincorporated group | Whoever the program says the customer is | A social page as the customer |
| A trustee for a charitable trust | The trustee and the trust questions | The purpose listed as the beneficial owner |
Where the charity page stops
This page is the not-for-profit as a property client. It is not a checklist of every CDD step. That sits on the customer due diligence checklist. This page does not say a charity is higher risk, and it does not say it is lower risk.
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 charitable purpose is not a fee waiver inside the firm suite. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not decide that a charity skips customer due diligence, or name its beneficial owners for you.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Check the entity, then the people.
The firm suite is A$0. The client pays. Use KYB for a company or trust customer and KYC for each individual the program names.
Start an AML checkQuestions: team@freeaml.com.au