How will the new AML laws affect you when buying a property?
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) refers to global laws designed to stop criminals from disguising illegal funds as legitimate income. While this doesn’t apply to some of our clients, as Buyers Agents, we must comply with these new regulations.
Starting 1 July 2026, we—along with your selling agent, finance broker, and conveyancer/solicitor—will be required to ask you more detailed questions. Unfortunately, this means you may have to repeat this information four times.
What We Will Need From You:
- Identification: Your full legal name, date of birth, and residential address.
- Verification: Official documents (e.g., passport or driver’s licence) verified via a secure e-verification app, plus a recent household bill.
- Source of Funds: Confirmation of where the money to buy your home is coming from.
- Political Status: Disclosure of whether you, a close family member, or a business associate hold a prominent public position in Australia or overseas.
- Third-Party Check: Clarification on whether you are buying the property for yourself or on behalf of someone else.
- Purpose of the Property: Whether the property will be your primary residence, an investment property, a holiday home, or a home office.
- Residency Status: Whether you are an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or a foreign investor.
What We Are Doing to Protect You:
- Compliant Software: We are currently vetting AUSTRAC-compliant digital platforms to ensure your identity and data are stored safely and securely in our CRM.
- Government Reporting: We are legally required to report any transaction fee over $10,000 to AUSTRAC. However, to ensure internal consistency, we will ask these questions for all transactions regardless of the fee amount.
- Data Retention: By law, all Customer Due Diligence (CDD) data must be securely stored for at least 7 years after our business relationship ends.
- Mandatory Questions: Even if we already know the answers to some of these questions, we are legally required to ask and formally record them.
We understand this extra paperwork can be frustrating for both of us. However, these steps are vital to protecting your identity, maintaining Australia’s AAA credit rating, and combating financial crime.