Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Laws

What are the AML/CTF laws?

From 1 July 2026, Australian law practices that provide certain legal services must take steps to understand who their customers are and, in some cases, where money or assets involved in a matter have come from.  These checks are intended to make it harder for legal services to be misused for money laundering, terrorism financing or other unlawful activity.

What does it mean for you?

As part of these obligations, we are required to obtain information about our customers, the work we are asked to carry out, and in some cases other individuals involved in a matter.

This is known as customer due diligence (CDD) and includes collecting and verifying identity documents using reliable and independent sources.  For most customers, the process should be straightforward. In many matters, it may simply involve verifying your identity and answering a small number of questions. In other matters, particularly where companies, trusts, overseas parties or significant transactions are involved, we may need more detailed information.

It does not mean that we have any concerns about you or your matter. It simply means that we are required to take reasonable steps to know who we are acting for and, where relevant, to understand the background to a transaction.

What information may we ask you to provide?

Depending on the type of customer and the nature of the matter, we may ask you to provide information such as:
• Verification of identity (VOI), such as a drivers licence, passport and/or other identity documents together with facial biometric matching.
• Information about your address and contact details.
• Information about your company, trust, partnership or other entity, if we are acting for or dealing with that entity.
• Details of directors, shareholders, trustees, beneficiaries or other people who ultimately own or control an entity.
• Information about the source of funds being used in a transaction, such as savings, sale proceeds, a loan, inheritance, business income or investment funds.
• Information about your source of wealth, being how your overall wealth or assets have been accumulated.
• Whether you are a politically exposed person (PEP), or a close family member or associate of one. A politically exposed person may include someone who holds, or has held, a prominent public position in government, the courts, the military or a similar public role.

We have selected Dye & Durham to provide our online checks for VOI, company information and PEP screening.  If we need you to complete a check, we will arrange that and you will receive a secure link.  You simply need to follow the prompts to capture images of your ID and your face.  We will then review the results and complete the verification process.  We might also need to ask you for copies of documents such as bank statements, company documents, trust deeds and similar.

We understand that being asked for identity and financial information can feel personal and this process is unfamiliar.  However, these checks are now a standard legal requirement and apply to all law firms.  We will only ask for what we need.

Will this delay your matter?

We will do our best to make the process as smooth as possible.  To avoid delays, we ask that the requested information is provided as soon as possible.  If you provide this information too late or things change late, we might need to conduct further customer due diligence. If we are unable to complete the verification process, we might not be able to proceed with your matter.  The best way to avoid delay is to respond to our requests as soon as you can and let us know if you are unsure what is required.

How will your information be used?

Information provided to us for AML/CTF compliance will be used for compliance, verification and related legal purposes.  We will handle your information carefully and in accordance with our professional obligations, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and other applicable laws. We may also be required to keep AML/CTF records for a period required by law, which may be up to seven years.

In some circumstances, the AML/CTF laws require law practices to report certain matters to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, known as AUSTRAC. The law may also prevent us from telling a customer that a report has been made.

Will there be a cost?

There will be some costs associated with electronic AML/CTF checks – e.g. identity verification, company searches or other searches that need to be obtained.  Any third party charges will usually be treated as disbursements in the same way as other external costs connected with your matter.

What if you cannot provide the information?

If we cannot obtain or verify information that we are required to collect, we may be unable to open your matter, continue acting, or complete certain work for you.  We may also need to stop acting if continuing would cause us to breach our legal, professional or ethical obligations.  If you are having difficulty providing information, please speak with us as early as possible.

How you can help

To help us progress your matter efficiently, please:
• Respond promptly to requests for identity or AML/CTF information.
• Provide clear copies of documents where requested.
• Tell us early if a company, trust, partnership or overseas entity is involved.
• Let us know if funds are coming from a third party, overseas account, loan, gift, inheritance, business sale or other source that may need to be explained.
• Ask us questions if you are unsure why information is needed or what you should provide.

We are here to help

We appreciate your cooperation with these new requirements. Our aim is to make the process as straightforward as possible while meeting our legal obligations and protecting the integrity of the legal services we provide.

If you have any questions about our AML/CTF onboarding process, please contact us.  You can also download more information from the Law Institute of Victoria (https://www.liv.asn.au/Common/Uploaded%20files/Knowledge-Hub/AML/AML-CTF-Client-Info-Brochure.pdf).





Disclaimer

The information contained on this page is intended to be of a general nature only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Any legal matters should be discussed specifically with one of our lawyers.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
 

July 2026