AML/CTF means anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing

People search the letters because a form says AML/CTF program and they want the expansion before they sign it. Checked against AUSTRAC's “what we do” page on 5 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. How the reform applies is what Tranche 2 is. The rules instrument people mean next is the AML/CTF Rules. The start date for the new services is 1 July 2026. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Two risks, one set of duties

Anti-money laundering is aimed at the disguise of proceeds of crime. Counter-terrorism financing is aimed at money that supports terrorism. The second can involve money that was earned lawfully. A firm that only looks for “dirty” cash will miss a payment that looks ordinary and is still the CTF problem. AUSTRAC describes itself as the regulator and financial intelligence unit for this combined regime. The program you adopt is an AML/CTF program because the risk assessment is supposed to see both, and proliferation financing as well.

The statute is the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. On the Federal Register of Legislation it is Act No. 169 of 2006. The duties a small firm feels, if it provides a new designated service, commenced on 1 July 2026. Nothing in the expansion of the acronym changes that date, and nothing in the acronym enrols a firm that does not provide a designated service. Learn the letters so you can read AUSTRAC. Then read the services.

How the letters show up in the office

• The program title. It should say AML/CTF, because that is the regime. A document called only “AML policy” is easy to misread as ignoring terrorism financing.
• The risk assessment. Include both risks, and proliferation financing, in the way AUSTRAC's reformed program expects. Do not paste a bank's assessment.
• Customer due diligence. The same check supports both. You are not buying an AML product and a separate CTF product.
• The report. A suspicious matter report can be about either risk. Terrorism financing has the shorter clock: 24 hours. Other suspicions, including money laundering, are 3 business days.
• Training. Staff should hear both expansions once. After that, teach them the firm's services, not the dictionary.

Staff reach for the wrong expansion when a form uses the letters as a heading and the rest of the sentence is blank. Write the full words on the first page of the program and in the induction, then stop treating the acronym as a product name. A client who asks what AML/CTF means can be told the two expansions in one sentence: the firm takes steps so it is not used to hide crime money, and so it is not used to move money for terrorism. That sentence does not mention reports. It does not ask the client to confess a source of funds you have not decided you need. If your services are not designated, you can still explain the letters when a bank or another firm uses them. Explaining the letters does not make you a reporting entity. If your services are designated, the letters are the name of the program you have to keep, the training you have to give, and the reports you lodge in AUSTRAC Online. Proliferation financing sits beside those duties. It does not rename CTF. A slide that expands CTF as counter terrorism fraud, or as a customer transaction form, will be repeated by a new starter in front of a client. Fix the slide. The Federal Register title is long enough to copy onto the cover of the program so nobody invents a shorter official name.

Where this page stops

This page is the acronym. Proliferation financing, which people try to force into the letters, is what proliferation financing is.

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. There is not a separate CTF fee. The client pays one check, KYC or KYB, and the firm applies one program.

Frequently Asked Questions