On Wednesday, the Australian Government introduced the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Amendment Bill 2024 into Parliament.
This legislation represents a critical step forward in fortifying Australia’s defenses against financial crimes. It aims to enhance the current framework to better address evolving threats related to money laundering, terrorism financing, and other serious organized crimes.
The proposed Bill seeks to amend the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act). If passed, it will overhaul Australia’s AML/CTF regime to more effectively deter, detect, and disrupt financial crimes, aligning the nation with international standards established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The country is scheduled to have its next mutual evaluation by the FATF in 2026.
According to the government’s media release, the Bill addresses several critical areas. It extends the AML/CTF regime to include ‘tranche-two’ entities such as lawyers, accountants, real estate professionals, and dealers in precious metals and stones—sectors currently vulnerable to criminal exploitation.
Virtual assets
Additionally, it modernizes the regulation of virtual assets and payment technologies to keep pace with evolving financial practices. One such element is to ‘insert a new definition of ‘virtual asset’ in the AML/CTF Act to replace the existing definition and terminology of ‘digital currency’, to provide clarity and ensure additional asset types such as stablecoins and non‑fungible tokens (NFTs) are captured’.
Customer Due Diligence
Further encompassed are changes on Customer Due Diligence (CDD). According to the government, this would include to ‘reframe and clarify the core requirements for reporting entities to carry out initial and ongoing CDD’. It would also ‘clarify when enhanced CDD must be applied’.
This targets in particular the gaming and gambling sector, particularly ‘casinos, on-course bookmakers, totalizator agency boards and gaming machine operators‘. For these operators, the exemption threshold for CDD obligations would be lowered from the current AU$10,000 ($6,700) to AU$5,000 ($3,300). This would align it with FATF recommendations and EGM requirements for payouts in New South Wales and Queensland state legislation.
The change, if passed, would come into effect on March 31st of 2026, similar to other changes mentioned above.
The Bill would also expand the scope of AUSTRAC’s ‘information-gathering powers’, one of which is to ‘obtain relevant information needed to make enforcement decisions and obtain evidence to be used in AML/CTF court proceedings’.
Consultation and implementation
The Bill also seeks to simplify and clarify the existing framework, making it more flexible and reducing the regulatory burden on businesses. This streamlining will help businesses implement effective measures against financial crime, resulting in better-quality financial data and improved protection against misuse by criminals.
In preparation for these reforms, the Attorney-General’s Department and AUSTRAC conducted extensive consultations throughout 2023 and 2024. This process included two formal rounds of consultation and the release of seven detailed consultation papers. During this period, over 100 meetings and engagements were held with industry stakeholders and government representatives, including industry roundtables.
AUSTRAC will commence consultations on the new draft bill within this year. If passed, the financial watchdog will ‘work with industry to develop sector specific guidance on the new regime – launching ‘dedicated education products’ and a call center.
Most of the proposed changes would commence on March 31st of 2026, with some – such as changes for the financial sector – delayed until July 1st of 2026
It is worth noting that some major Australian gaming operators have previously failed to comply with anti-money laundering measures, impacting their casino operations negatively. For example, Star Entertainment was fined $62 million in October 2022 for failing to prevent money laundering at its Sydney casino. Similarly, Crown Melbourne was fined in 2023 and required to adhere to stricter AML/CTF measures.
If the new Bill is passed, Australian gaming operators may need to adjust their compliance strategies, which could result in increased costs.
