Responding to a notice without dumping privileged material

People search “s167 and legal professional privilege” when a two-partner firm receives a notice and someone suggests either sending the whole matter or sending nothing. Checked against AUSTRAC’s obligations and compliance page 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. Day-to-day checks for a law firm are AML checks for lawyers. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Two jobs, neither of them a blog procedure

A notice asks the firm to produce something, and legal professional privilege is a doctrine the firm’s own lawyers apply to particular material. They are easy to smash together, either by sending everything so nobody can say you held back, or by sending nothing and calling it privilege. Both shortcuts are outside this page. AUSTRAC’s obligations page is the general compliance frame, not a production manual, and this page does not write one.

The principle is small: you engage with the notice through the firm’s lawyers, you do not treat a full client-file dump as a considered response, and you do not treat the word privilege as a reason to ignore the notice. What is actually privileged, how a claim is made, and what is produced, are decisions this page does not make and does not teach.

• Answer through your own lawyers. The notice is not a task for the front desk and it is not a task for software. Name the partner who owns the response.
• Do not dump the matter. Sending the entire client file can damage privilege and confidentiality. This page will not list what to pull out.
• Do not sit on the notice. Calling something privileged is not the same as engaging with the notice. The claim, if any, is made in the way your lawyers advise.
• Keep this off the client-check screen. A KYC link does not respond to a notice. Do not upload the notice into a customer portal.

What this page will not sort for you

The table marks the boundary. It is not a production plan. If you need a plan, that is advice on the notice you hold, from lawyers who can read it.

Where the notice page stops

This page is the distinction between answering and dumping. It is not a guide to a different power and it is not the check you run on an ordinary matter. Those are AUSTRAC section 172A powers and AML checks for lawyers.

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 legal work for the firm, and it is not included in the firm suite. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not respond to a notice, claim privilege, or decide what to produce.

Frequently Asked Questions