Property and Commercial Law Senior Associate Mieke Elzer and Paralegal Jordan Price discuss the new anti-money laundering laws affecting Australian law firms – including what designated services are covered, how the client verification process works, and what clients can expect from Attwood Marshall Lawyers moving forward.
The 1st of July marked more than the start of a new financial year. It also marked the commencement of new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulations that law firms and other professionals must now comply with, changing how firms like Attwood Marshall Lawyers verify the identity of clients involved in certain transactions.
The reforms are the most significant change to Australia’s financial crime compliance framework in almost two decades, extending obligations that have applied to banks and financial institutions for years to a broader range of professional service providers, including lawyers, accountants, and real estate professionals.
For clients, this means a new layer of identity verification for certain types of legal work, but it does not change the level of service or care you can expect from your legal team.
This article explains what the changes involve, which services they apply to, and what to expect if you are asked to complete the new verification process.
Understanding the new AML/CTF requirements
Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, law firms are now required to collect and verify customer information to help prevent money laundering, terrorism financing, and other serious financial crime, and to ensure their services aren’t misused for illegal activity.
For Attwood Marshall Lawyers, this is largely business as usual. We have carried out identification checks on clients for many years, and the new regime extends that existing practice into additional areas of our work. We are using Infotrack, a trusted industry provider, to carry out these checks.
Before we can provide certain services, we will need to collect information from clients, including a verification of identity, address details, and, where relevant, details of company or beneficial ownership and trust structures.
We aim to make this process as simple and cost-effective as possible. Where we are working alongside real estate agents on the same transaction, we can, for example, enter into reliance agreements, allowing one side to rely on the other’s compliance checks rather than duplicating the work. This saves time and reduces cost for everyone involved.
In some cases, we may need to request further information to meet our regulatory obligations. You can read our privacy policy here.
The system has been designed to protect Australia and its people from serious financial crime, and we see it as a positive step for the country.
FAQs
Why has the law changed?
The reforms bring Australia into line with standards set by international body the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Bringing legal services into the new regulatory net makes it harder to transfer property or set up companies and trusts, knowingly or unknowingly, to launder money or finance terrorism.
Will this apply to all legal services?
A common misconception is that all legal work is now regulated. It isn’t. The reforms do not regulate lawyers as a profession; they regulate specific activities, referred to as “designated services.” If a matter does not involve a designated service, none of this applies.
Designated services relevant to legal practice broadly include:
- Assisting with the sale, purchase or transfer of real property or a business;
- Receiving, holding or managing client money or other property.
- Assisting with the formation, sale, or restructuring of companies, trusts or partnerships;
- Acting, or arranging for someone else to act, as a director, secretary, trustee or nominee shareholder;
- Assisting with equity or debt financing transactions; and
- Providing a registered office or principal place of business address for an entity.
What will Attwood Marshall Lawyers ask me for?
Where we are providing a designated service, we are required to carry out Client Due Diligence (CDD) before we proceed.
In practice, this means we may ask you to:
- Complete a short Client Due Diligence form, confirming key details about you (or your entity) and the purpose of the matter,
- Provide valid identification documents that meet the 100 points ARNECC requirement (for individuals),
- Where applicable, identify anyone who owns, controls, or benefits from your company or trust (for example, directors, trustees, or beneficial owners holding 25 per cent or more), so that we can verify their identity too,
- In higher-risk matters, provide further information such as source of funds or wealth.
For existing clients with an existing matter that began before 1 July 2026, we generally do not need to re-verify your identity unless something changes significantly or a suspicious matter needs to be assessed.
For existing clients who instruct us to carry out a designated service after 1 July 2026, we will require an updated verification of identity, which will last two years.
For new matters involving a designated service, we will ask you to complete the process before, or very early in, the engagement, so it doesn’t hold up your matter later.
How will my information be used?
In accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), Attwood Marshall Lawyers is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information
We will only collect necessary information. Collecting this ensures we can verify your identity, provide legal services, prepare legal documents, communicate with you, prevent fraud and unauthorised access and meet our AML/CTF obligations.
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Our security measures include encrypted digital storage, access controls and permissions, secure backups, secure destruction protocols and secure third-party systems (e.g. InfoTrack WebVOI).
How does this affect legal professional privilege?
The reforms do not override legal professional privilege. AUSTRAC has confirmed that privileged communications remain protected, and our obligations under the Act operate alongside our existing professional and ethical duties to you.
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