AML is the work of not being used to wash crime money

People search “what is AML” when a professional body email lands and the acronym is doing too much work. Checked against AUSTRAC's “what we do” page and AUSTRAC's summary of obligations for newly regulated entities on 5 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. The reform's scope is what Tranche 2 is. Which services count is designated services. The customer work is customer due diligence requirements. The sector map is /tranche-2.

The idea, then the firm

Money laundering makes money from crime look lawful. Anti-money laundering is the system built to make that harder: laws, a regulator, and duties on the businesses criminals find useful. AUSTRAC is Australia's regulator and financial intelligence unit. For years those duties sat mainly with banks and other financial services, gambling, bullion and remittance. From 1 July 2026 they also apply to new designated services typically provided by real estate businesses, lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, and dealers in precious metals, stones and products. That extension is what people call Tranche 2. The acronym did not change. The list of businesses did.

A small firm does not “become AML”. It either provides a designated service or it does not. A tax return, by itself, is not the list. Acting on a property transfer, holding client money for a transaction, or taking a company-secretary role for a nominator, can be. The first skilled job is reading the service you actually sell against AUSTRAC's tables, not buying a platform because a webinar said every practice is in. If you are in, the work is ordinary and documented. If you are not, do not enrol for the letterhead and then carry the annual report by accident. AUSTRAC says a business that enrolled and does not provide a designated service can apply to come off the Roll, and that obligations continue while it stays on.

The work, in the order a two-partner firm can do it

• Name the designated services. Write the ones you provide. Leave off the ones you do not, so the program is about this firm.
• Enrol in AUSTRAC Online. For the new services that started on 1 July 2026, the published enrolment date was 29 July 2026. The standing rule is 28 days after you start.
• Adopt a program and name an officer. One person can hold more than one role in a very small business. The officer still has to be a real person who does the job.
• Know the customer before the service. A person is KYC. A company or trust is KYB, plus the people the program names.
• Report, record, train. Suspicions go to AUSTRAC and not to the client. Records stay. People who touch the service are shown the program before they freestyle.

Where the money goes

Firms hear “AML” and think of a subscription. The legal pieces above do not all have a price. Enrolment is a form. The program is a document you adopt. Training can be a sitting with your own people. The check, when you need identity verified, is the part with a list price on this site. On FreeAML the firm does not pay a platform fee. The client pays A$20 for a personal KYC check or A$40 for a company or trust KYB check. That price does not buy the program, the officer, or the report. It buys the check. Keeping those jobs apart is how a small firm stays honest about cost.

Where this page stops

This page is the meaning for a small firm. The letters inside AML/CTF are separated in what AML/CTF stands for.

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. There is no subscription. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not charge a firm fee to “be AML”. The client pays the verification. The duties stay with the firm.

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