AUSTRAC enrolment is now open — what real estate agents need to do
AUSTRAC enrolment opened on 31 March 2026. If your agency brokers property sales, you must enrol by 29 July. Here is what enrolment involves, what it does not cover, and what to do next.
AUSTRAC enrolment is now open -- what real estate agents need to do
AUSTRAC enrolment opened on 31 March 2026.
If your real estate agency brokers the purchase, sale, or transfer of property in Australia, you are a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act). That means you must enrol with AUSTRAC.
The deadline to complete enrolment is 29 July 2026. Your full AML/CTF obligations begin 1 July 2026.
This post explains what enrolment is, what it is not, and what you should be doing in the 90 days between now and the deadline.
What enrolment actually means
Enrolment is how AUSTRAC knows your agency exists as a reporting entity. You register via AUSTRAC Connect -- Australia's secure online portal for reporting entities.
When you enrol, you provide:
- Your agency's ABN
- The name and contact details of your appointed compliance officer
- A description of the designated services your agency provides (for most agencies, this is "brokering the purchase, sale, or transfer of real estate")
- Your agency's principal place of business
Enrolment takes most agencies 20 to 40 minutes once you have these details ready.
What enrolment does not cover
This is the part many agencies miss.
Enrolling with AUSTRAC is not the same as complying with your AML/CTF obligations. Enrolment tells AUSTRAC who you are. It does not build your compliance program for you.
Your obligations from 1 July 2026 include:
- An AML/CTF program -- a documented set of policies, procedures, and controls covering your risk assessment, CDD procedures, monitoring, and reporting
- Risk assessment -- a written analysis of your business's money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing risks
- Staff training -- annual training on AML/CTF risk awareness
- Customer due diligence (CDD) -- identity verification and beneficial ownership checks before you broker any transaction
- Ongoing monitoring -- reviewing clients and transactions for suspicious activity
- Record keeping -- storing all compliance records for 7 years
None of these are created by filling in the enrolment form. They require separate work.
Think of enrolment as step one of a six-step process, not the finish line.
Who must enrol?
You must enrol if your agency provides a designated service. For real estate, the designated service is:
Brokering the purchase, sale, or transfer of real estate for other people as part of a business.
This covers residential sales agents, commercial sales agents, buyer's agents, and auctioneers handling property transactions.
Not covered: Property management, leasing, and rental-only agencies are not designated services under Tranche 2. If your agency exclusively manages rentals with no sales activity, you are not regulated under this legislation.
Key dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 31 March 2026 | Enrolment opens |
| 1 July 2026 | AML/CTF obligations commence (CDD, screening, SMR/TTR filing) |
| 29 July 2026 | Deadline for completing AUSTRAC enrolment |
| 1 Jan -- 31 Mar 2027 | First Annual Compliance Report period |
The two deadlines are not the same. 1 July is when your obligations begin -- meaning you need your program, risk assessment, staff training, and CDD workflows in place by then. 29 July is the enrolment deadline.
In practice, you should enrol now and spend the next 90 days building your program.
How to enrol: the short version
- Go to AUSTRAC Connect and log in (or create an account)
- Select "Register as a reporting entity"
- Enter your ABN and agency details
- Describe your designated services
- Name your compliance officer
- Submit
You will receive an AUSTRAC Account Number (AAN) after enrolment is processed. Keep this -- your first independent evaluation date is calculated from your AAN's last two digits.
What to do after you enrol
Enrolment is the administrative step. Everything else is the compliance work.
After enrolling, your agency needs:
- A completed risk assessment covering your customers, services, delivery channels, and geographic risks
- A written AML/CTF program -- AUSTRAC's free Program Starter Kit covers this for agencies with up to 15 staff
- A compliance officer appointed at senior management level (often the principal) with authority to act on suspicious activity
- Staff training completed before 1 July
- CDD workflows in place so every new client gets identity-verified before you broker their transaction
AUSTRAC's Program Starter Kit is three Word documents covering all of these areas. You customise them to your business and have them approved at principal level.
A practical starting point
Once you have enrolled, AML Simple can help you build the rest of your compliance program.
Our wizard asks the right questions about your business -- your services, your typical clients, how you deliver those services -- and structures your answers into an AML/CTF program document consistent with AUSTRAC's own Program Starter Kit structure. You still make the decisions. We help you work through them systematically and keep everything in one place.
Foundation tier is always free. Full access is free until 1 July 2026.
The enrolment form is open. 90 days is enough time to get this right -- if you start now.
Source: Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006; AUSTRAC guidance on enrolment (austrac.gov.au). This post is for general information only and does not constitute legal or compliance advice. Consult a qualified AML/CTF professional for guidance specific to your agency.