Real estate agencies · Table 5, real estate services
Last checked 25 September 2026 against the AML/CTF Act compilation C2026C00274, the AML/CTF Rules 2025 (F2025L01026) and the Transitional Rules 2026 (F2026L00393)
If your agency brokers the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate, it has had AML/CTF obligations since 1 July 2026. Whichever side engages you, the seller and the buyer are both your customers. Property management on its own is not a designated service.
s 6 Sch 3 item 11 AUSTRAC real estate designated services
Not sure your agency is regulated? Work through our questions, or use AUSTRAC's tool (AUSTRAC website, opens in a new window).
AUSTRAC's real estate starter kit is free
AUSTRAC publishes a free program starter kit for real estate agents and buyer's agents. If your agency fits AUSTRAC's profile and you have time to customise it, it may be all you need. Our real estate agency edition is built on it, openly and with attribution.
AUSTRAC's real estate starter kit (AUSTRAC website, opens in a new window)
01 Scope
Table 5 in section 6 of the Act lists two real estate services. The summary is ours; the wording of the Act decides.
| Item | The service, in short | Your customer | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate on behalf of a buyer, seller, transferee or transferor, in the course of a business | Both the seller or transferor and the buyer or transferee | A sales agent or a buyer's agent on any sale |
| 2 | Selling or transferring real estate in a business of selling real estate, where no independent agent brokers the sale | The buyer or transferee | A developer selling its own stock through in-house staff |
s 6 AUSTRAC real estate designated services
What counts as real estate. Under the Act's definition, real estate is a fee simple interest, a leasehold interest or a land use entitlement in land in Australia (and equivalent interests overseas). A lease for a term of 30 years or less, not counting options to renew, is left out. AUSTRAC describes a land use entitlement as a right to occupy land that comes from owning shares or units, and says a transfer is covered even when no money changes hands. s 5 AUSTRAC real estate designated services
Not designated on its own: property management. Letting and managing rentals is not brokering a sale, purchase or transfer, and a lease of 30 years or less is not real estate. An agency that also sells is captured for its sales. Under item 2, AUSTRAC says a business selling its own premises, or a private sale of a home, is not captured. s 5 s 6 AUSTRAC real estate designated services
You decide, and you write the decision down
Whether a service is designated is your agency's decision, made on the Act and AUSTRAC's guidance. Use AUSTRAC's Check if you may be regulated tool (opens in a new window), keep the result, and record your decision. Document 01 of the real estate agency edition is built for that record. Where the answer is unclear, get legal advice.
02 Where agencies get caught out
AUSTRAC's guidance: a seller's agent starts the service to the seller when the agency agreement is signed, and to the buyer when the deal is reasonably expected to proceed, typically when the offer is accepted and the contract signed. For a buyer's agent it runs the other way round. Your checks must cover both people. s 6 AUSTRAC real estate designated services
Checks normally come before the service starts. Once you have started acting for one side of a brokered sale, section 29 and Rules 6-32 let you start the service to the other side before your checks on them are finished, if the delay is essential to avoid interrupting business and the extra risk is low. The stop date is the earlier of 28 days after exchange and 3 days before the initially agreed settlement day. AUSTRAC gives auctions as the usual case. s 29 Rules 6-32
Rules 6-33 lets you treat some of your checks on a customer as done (their beneficial owners, their politically exposed person and sanctions status, and anyone they act for) if you take part in an arrangement with another reporting entity in the deal, such as the buyer's conveyancer, which will collect and verify the customer's details within 28 days after exchange. It applies only where brokering is the only designated service you provide to that customer. You still take reasonable steps to confirm an individual is who they say they are, rate the customer's risk and collect their details. You must be able to obtain the other entity's information, and the verification data, at least 3 days before the initially agreed settlement day, and each party's responsibilities, including record-keeping, must be written down. Your policies must say how you will verify before settlement if the data does not arrive. s 28 Rules 6-33 Rules 5-20
This applies to the other side of a sale you are brokering: the buyer when you act for the seller, or the seller when you act for the buyer. If that person will not give you what you need, Rules 6-33 lets you treat a check as done only where you took all reasonable steps, recorded them and the difficulties, and recorded whether a suspicious matter report is required. The refusal must be taken into account in that decision. It does not cover the customer who engaged you. Rules 6-33 Rules 9-4A
03 The real estate agency edition
The edition holds the 25 program documents every edition has: the risk assessment, the policies, the process document, client due diligence (CDD) forms, registers and the reporting calendar. The kit page lists them all. The real estate wording runs through them: the risk assessment starts from AUSTRAC's real estate risk assessment, the CDD forms cover the seller and the buyer, and the policies carry the settlement-verification clause Rules 5-20 requires. Then come three documents of its own:
When the service to each side starts, the window for delayed checks, what to do if the details do not come through an arrangement, and the steps when the other side of the sale will not cooperate, including the suspicious matter decision.
The arrangement with the other side's conveyancer or agent under Rules 6-33, with each party's responsibilities, including record-keeping, written down.
A one-page reminder that both sides are customers, when each side's service starts, and which form set to use.
AUSTRAC's original files are not in our zip. You can download them free from AUSTRAC's real estate kit document library (opens in a new window) and compare them with ours.
Built for the agencies AUSTRAC's kit was built for
AUSTRAC designed its real estate kit for agencies that only broker the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate, have 15 or fewer personnel (counting administrative staff), mostly deal with individual customers who are Australian residents, do not regularly deal with high-risk customers, do not broker overseas property, only handle customer funds directly related to real estate transactions, offer no fully remote self-service, do not sell property they own, are not taking over another business or its customers, and are not part of a large reporting group, foreign branch or subsidiary. Outside that profile, AUSTRAC says you "cannot rely on the starter kit to meet our regulatory expectations". The same goes for our edition, which is built on it. AUSTRAC real estate kit: getting started
04 What the law requires
| Obligation | In short | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Enrolment | Enrol on AUSTRAC's Reporting Entities Roll. You apply directly to AUSTRAC; you do not need us for it. | s 51B |
| AML/CTF program | A written ML/TF risk assessment and AML/CTF policies, documented before your first designated service and approved by a senior manager | s 26B s 26C s 26F s 26P Rules 5-15 |
| Compliance officer | A person at management level who is a resident of Australia and fit and proper, designated within 28 days of your first designated service; AUSTRAC told within 14 days. In a one-person agency the principal can be the governing body, the senior manager and the compliance officer, and then does not report to themselves. | s 26J s 26K s 26M Rules 5-7 AUSTRAC sole traders and micro businesses |
| Customer checks | For the seller and the buyer, before the service to each starts unless the Rules allow a delay: who they are, their beneficial owners, politically exposed person and sanctions status, and the purpose of the dealing; then ongoing checks | s 28 s 29 s 30 |
| Reports | Suspicious matters within 3 business days of forming the suspicion (24 hours for terrorism financing); physical currency of A$10,000 or more within 10 business days | s 41 s 43 |
| Records | Kept for 7 years | s 107 s 111 s 116 |
05 Key dates
Program, customer due diligence, reporting and record-keeping obligations began for real estate services (Table 5).
Enrolment was due for agencies already providing a Table 5 service on 1 July 2026. An agency that starts later has 28 days from its first designated service. A missed date does not end the obligation: it continues until you enrol.
Not enrolled yet? You enrol directly with AUSTRAC. You do not need to buy anything from us to do it. Enrol with AUSTRAC (opens in a new window)
AUSTRAC said it had begun issuing section 167 notices to businesses that appear to be providing designated services but have not enrolled. It named real estate agents among them.
Your first annual compliance-report period ends.
Last day to lodge your first annual compliance report.
First independent evaluation, if you were in the 29 July 2026 enrolment group: before 30 June 2029, 31 December 2029, 30 June 2030 or 31 December 2030, depending on the last two digits of your enrolment identifier.
As at 17 September 2026, AUSTRAC's enrolment table listed 18,350 real estate enrolments. AUSTRAC Enrol with us overview
06 Done for you
You pay once, download the full kit straight away, and receive the real estate intake questionnaire. We send your draft documents within 5 business days of receiving your complete intake.
Band 1 · 1–3 personnel
A$990 one-off, includes GST of A$90.00
A sales or buyer's agency of 1 to 3 personnel, one office.
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Band 2 · 4–8 personnel
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4 to 8 personnel, including an agency with sales and a rent roll.
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Band 3 · 9–15 personnel or mixed service lines
A$2,490 one-off, includes GST of A$226.36
9 to 15 personnel, two offices, or project sales for developers.
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We do not act as your compliance officer, lodge reports for you or carry out your independent evaluation. If your intake shows your agency is outside AUSTRAC's starter-kit profile or has more than 15 personnel, we tell you and refund you in full before any work starts. Full Setup details · All prices
07 Straight answers
Not as a real estate service. Table 5 covers brokering a sale, purchase or transfer, and the Act's definition of real estate leaves out a lease of 30 years or less. Holding rent in trust raises a separate question under item 3 of Table 6 (client money). The Act's note to section 6(5C) gives property management services as an example of an exclusion for businesses that provide no other designated service, and AUSTRAC says the Rules also exclude an agency's management of rental income and expenses through its trust account. An agency that sells as well as manages is captured for its sales. One caution: AUSTRAC's real estate starter kit is designed for agencies that "only handle customer funds directly related to real estate transactions". If you hold rent in trust, check that criterion against your agency, or email us before you buy. s 5 s 6(5C) AUSTRAC real estate and professional designated services
Both. When you broker a sale, purchase or transfer under Table 5 item 1, the seller or transferor and the buyer or transferee are each your customer, whichever side engaged you. The real estate agency edition's forms and onboarding note cover each side. s 6
Once you have started acting for the seller, section 29 and Rules 6-32 let you start the service to the buyer before your checks on them are finished, if the delay is essential to avoid interrupting the ordinary course of business and the extra risk is low. The checks must be finished by the earlier of 28 days after exchange of contracts and 3 days before the initially agreed settlement day. You can also use an arrangement with the buyer's conveyancer under Rules 6-33, with a request to verify information form. s 29 Rules 6-32 Rules 6-33
Buyer's agents are: Table 5 item 1 covers brokering on behalf of a buyer, and the seller becomes a customer too once the deal is reasonably expected to proceed. A developer selling its own property without an independent agent provides a different service, Table 5 item 2, where the customer is the buyer. AUSTRAC's real estate starter kit is not designed for businesses that sell property they own, so neither AUSTRAC's kit nor our edition can be relied on for that. s 6 AUSTRAC real estate kit: getting started
Yes, if it happens. A transaction involving A$10,000 or more in physical currency (notes and coins) is a threshold transaction, reported to AUSTRAC within 10 business days. Electronic transfers are not physical currency. If no such cash passes through your agency, your register records that. s 43 s 5
A sales or buyer's agency of 1 to 3 personnel: Band 1. An agency of 4 to 8 personnel, including one with a rent roll: Band 2. An agency of 9 to 15 personnel, with two offices, or selling project stock for developers: Band 3. If you are unsure, email [email protected] with your headcount and services before you pay.
More detail: AML/CTF guides and the sources we rely on.
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