AML/CTF for property developers selling off the plan: what AUSTRAC requires.
Developers selling off the plan without an independent agent have AML/CTF duties from 1 July 2026: enrolment, a program, buyer checks and record keeping.
The key point
From 1 July 2026, a developer that sells its own apartments, lots or house and land packages without an independent real estate agent provides a designated service under the AML/CTF Act. That means enrolling with AUSTRAC, having an AML/CTF program and a compliance officer, checking each buyer before the commitment to sell (typically exchange), reporting suspicious matters and keeping records, usually for 7 years. AUSTRAC’s real estate starter kit is not designed for developers, and some points, such as delayed checks and what counts as an independent agent, are not yet settled.
Does AML/CTF apply to a developer selling off the plan?
Yes, if the developer sells in the course of a business selling real estate and the sale is not brokered by an independent real estate agent.[1][2] Table 5 of the AML/CTF Act lists two real estate services: item 1 is brokering a sale for someone else, and item 2 is "selling or transferring real estate in the course of carrying on a business selling real estate, where the sale or transfer is not brokered by an independent real estate agent".[2] For item 2, the customer is the buyer or transferee.[1]
AUSTRAC gives three examples of developers that provide this service: those selling house and land packages, apartments off the plan, and blocks of vacant land in new subdivisions.[1] It includes sales made by the developer’s own in-house agents, sales or marketing employees instead of an external agency.[1] Granting a leasehold interest as part of selling real estate counts too.[1]
Incidental sales by a business and private sales of residential property are not captured.[1] AUSTRAC’s example is an owner who runs a business from premises they own and sells those premises directly.[1] If you are unsure whether a project is in scope, AUSTRAC’s check if you may be regulated tool walks through the questions.
In-house sales or an independent agent: who carries the obligation?
The choice of sales model decides which business provides the designated service.[1] When the developer’s own staff sell, the developer provides the item 2 service and the buyer is its customer.[1] When an independent agent brokers the sale, the agent provides the item 1 service, and its customers are both the buyer and the seller.[1] In that case the developer is the agent’s customer, so expect the agency to check the developer’s own identity and details.[1]
Two set-ups are not settled: a sale through a related sales company or the group’s own agency, and a project where an agency sells some lots and in-house staff sell others. Both are covered under the three unsettled points below; check them with AUSTRAC or your adviser before you rely on an agency arrangement to keep a project out of scope.
| How the lots are sold | Does the developer provide the item 2 service? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The developer’s in-house agents or sales staff sell directly | Yes | Enrol, put a program in place and check each buyer before the commitment to sell |
| An independent external agency brokers every sale | No: the agency provides the item 1 service | Expect the agency to carry out due diligence on the developer as seller, as well as on the buyer |
| A related sales company or the group’s own agency sells | Not settled: AUSTRAC does not define "independent" | Check with AUSTRAC or your adviser |
| An agency sells some lots and in-house staff sell others | Not settled for the direct sales | Check with AUSTRAC or your adviser |
AUSTRAC requirements for real estate: the key dates
Enrolment opened on 31 March 2026, and the core obligations have applied since 1 July 2026.[5] The amending Act held back four parts of the AML/CTF Act for real estate services until 1 July 2026: AML/CTF programs, customer due diligence, reporting, and record keeping.[2]
The enrolment deadline depends on when the developer started.[2][3] For a business that provided the service before 1 July 2026 and provided no other designated service, the deadline was 29 July 2026.[2] For everyone else, the application is due no later than 28 days after the day the business starts providing the service.[3]
- AUSTRAC sets expectationsAUSTRAC said newly regulated businesses should be enrolled, have a program and a compliance officer, and have trained staff by 1 July 2026.
- Enrolment opensReal estate businesses could enrol through AUSTRAC Online.
- Obligations applyPrograms, customer due diligence, reporting and record keeping started to apply to real estate services.
- Enrolment deadline for existing providersThe deadline for a business already providing the service before 1 July 2026 and no other designated service.
- Infringement noticesAUSTRAC announced it had begun issuing infringement notices to real estate and other businesses it believes did not enrol.
Do I need to register with AUSTRAC, or only enrol?
A developer needs to enrol, not register.[3][5] Registration is an extra process that typically applies only to money remitters and specialised virtual asset services.[3] AUSTRAC’s announcement that enrolment had opened said most businesses only need to enrol.[5]
Enrolment is made in AUSTRAC Online, and puts the business on the Reporting Entities Roll.[3] Enrolment details must be updated within 14 days of a change to the business or its designated services.[3]
If the developer has not enrolled, AUSTRAC’s own words are the guide. It said that after 1 July 2026 it would focus enforcement in the new sectors on businesses that wilfully ignore the obligation to enrol.[7] On 30 September 2026 it announced infringement notices to real estate, accounting and jewellery businesses it believes did not enrol within 28 days of providing a designated service.[11] The notices were issued at $21,840 in Australian dollars (AUD) for a company and $4,368 for an individual, and can accrue daily.[11] Its message to businesses with obligations was to come forward, contact AUSTRAC and enrol.[11]
AML/CTF Act obligations for a developer
Enrolment comes first in AUSTRAC’s list of obligations, and the program has to exist before the first sale it covers.[2][4] The Act says a reporting entity must not start providing a designated service until it has an up-to-date risk assessment and AML/CTF policies.[2] AUSTRAC expected newly regulated businesses to have these in place by 1 July 2026.[6][7]
AUSTRAC has said it does not expect newly regulated businesses to be perfect from day one, but it does expect honest efforts to meet the obligations and report suspicions.[7] One reporting trigger is a fixed amount: a threshold transaction report is needed for any transaction involving physical cash of $10,000 or more.[4]
AUSTRAC’s real estate starter kit is not a ready-made program for a developer. It is designed for small real estate and buyer’s agencies, and one of its suitability criteria is that the business does not sell property it owns, with property developers given as the example.[10] A developer can adapt parts of it, but its program must reflect the size, nature and complexity of its own business and the risks it faces.[10]
| Obligation | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Enrol | Apply in AUSTRAC Online and keep the details current |
| Governance | Name three roles: a governing body, a senior manager who approves the program and compliance decisions, and an AML/CTF compliance officer who manages day-to-day compliance (one person may hold more than one role in a small business) |
| AML/CTF program | A risk assessment of money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks, plus policies, procedures, systems and controls to manage them |
| Personnel | Personnel due diligence on the people doing AML/CTF work, and training so they can follow the program |
| Customer due diligence | Initial checks on each buyer before the service starts, then ongoing checks; enhanced checks in high-risk cases, simplified checks possible in low-risk cases |
| Reporting | Suspicious matter reports; threshold transaction reports for physical cash at or above the threshold above; international funds transfer and cross-border movement reports where they apply; an annual compliance report |
| Records | Full and accurate records of due diligence and transactions, kept for a set period, usually 7 years |
When must a developer check the buyer in an off-the-plan sale?
Before the commitment to sell, which AUSTRAC says is typically when the developer enters the agreement to sell.[1] The Act says a reporting entity must not start providing a designated service until it has completed initial customer due diligence (CDD), unless a delay rule applies.[2] In an off-the-plan sale, that usually puts the check before exchange of contracts.[1][2]
Initial CDD means establishing, on reasonable grounds, a set of matters about the buyer.[2] The checks are scaled to the buyer’s risk: collect the information that risk calls for and verify it with reliable and independent data.[2][4]
| Stage | AML/CTF position | Process point for the sales team |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry | No commitment to sell yet, so the service has not started | Record the lead in the CRM |
| Holding deposit or expression of interest | Not addressed in AUSTRAC’s guidance; check with AUSTRAC or your adviser whether your reservation terms are a commitment to sell | Decide in the program whether checks start here, and write the reason down |
| Contract issue | The service has typically not started yet | Collect identity, buyer structure and payment details so verification can finish before exchange |
| Exchange | Typically the commitment to sell, when the service starts | Initial CDD must be complete unless a delay rule applies |
| Settlement | The relationship continues | Ongoing CDD, suspicious matter escalation and the records sit with the contract file |
- Who the buyer is, and for an individual, reasonable steps to confirm they are who they say they are.[2]
- Anyone the buyer is acting for, and anyone acting for the buyer, with their authority to act.[2]
- For a company or trust buyer, its beneficial owners.[2]
- Whether any of those people is a politically exposed person or designated for targeted financial sanctions.[2][8]
- The nature and purpose of the business relationship or transaction.[2]
Three points AUSTRAC has not settled for developers
Three questions a developer will meet early have no clear answer in AUSTRAC’s guidance yet. For each one, check with AUSTRAC or your adviser rather than assume.
First, delayed checks. The Rules allow checks on the other party to a real estate deal to finish after exchange, but no later than whichever comes first: 28 days after exchange, or 3 days before the initially agreed settlement day.[8][9] That provision names brokering and professional real estate services; it does not name a developer’s item 2 sale.[9] Nor does the next rule, which lets an agent rely on another business in the deal, such as the buyer’s conveyancer, to verify some of the buyer’s details.[9] AUSTRAC also describes a general delay route, but it needs a reasoned finding that delay is essential to the ordinary course of business and the extra risk is low, and inconvenience alone is not enough.[8] Whether either route fits a developer’s sale is not addressed.
Second, the meaning of "independent". The Act uses the word, and AUSTRAC’s real estate guidance (last updated 31 August 2026) does not define it, so a sale through a related sales company or a group agency is not settled.[1][2] Mixed projects, where an agency sells some lots and in-house staff sell others, are not addressed either.[1]
Third, buyers who exchanged before 1 July 2026. The Act treats a buyer whose relationship involved only real estate services at the start of 1 July 2026 as a pre-commencement customer.[2] Initial CDD does not apply to that buyer unless a suspicious matter reporting obligation arises, or a significant change in the relationship makes the buyer’s risk medium or high.[2] The Act does require the developer to monitor these buyers for significant changes in the nature and purpose of the relationship that may make their risk medium or high.[2] Anything beyond that before settlement is not set out in AUSTRAC’s guidance.
Where the process breaks in a sales team
A program is only as good as the step where it is used. A program on paper does not check a buyer; the sales team does, at the point a contract is about to be exchanged, often under time pressure.
The manual way works, but it costs time on every sale: someone asks for ID, saves a copy, keys details into a spreadsheet, chases a trust deed, and later has to find all of it again for an audit or a suspicious matter. Across a launch weekend or a busy stage release, that adds up quickly.
Mapping the sales workflow once, from enquiry to settlement, and agreeing who does each check saves rebuilding it for each project. One developer started with a four-week diagnostic before changing its sales systems.
- No owner. The compliance officer role is named, but nobody in sales administration owns the check on each contract, so exchanges go ahead with gaps.
- Staff turnover. Sales teams change between projects, and a process that lives in one person’s head leaves with them.
- Records split across tools. ID copies in email, notes in the CRM and risk ratings in a spreadsheet are hard to produce together years later.
- A know your customer (KYC) tool without a process. An identity verification or screening service checks documents and lists; deciding the buyer’s risk, handling a politically exposed person and escalating a suspicion still need a person and a written step.
- Mixed projects and entities. A group with several selling companies, or projects sold partly through agents, needs a clear record of which sales are in scope and who enrolled.
- Templates that lag. Contract packs, reservation forms and CRM stages built before 1 July 2026 may not have a place to record the check before exchange.
If your team is working out buyer checks project by project, talk to us about mapping the workflow and connecting it to the tools you already use. Book a call ↗
Check your sales team’s understanding
Five questions on the rules in this guide, for a team briefing.
AML/CTF for off-the-plan sales
Further reading
References checked on 6 October 2026.
- [1] AUSTRAC: real estate designated services, last updated 31 August 2026 ↗
- [2] Federal Register of Legislation: Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024, as made (C2024A00110) ↗
- [3] AUSTRAC: enrol with us ↗
- [4] AUSTRAC: your obligations ↗
- [5] AUSTRAC media release: AUSTRAC opens enrolment for new professions, 31 March 2026 ↗
- [6] AUSTRAC: enrol now and meet your obligations, 30 June 2026 ↗
- [7] AUSTRAC: regulatory expectations for the implementation of the AML/CTF reforms, 4 July 2025 ↗
- [8] AUSTRAC: delayed initial customer due diligence ↗
- [9] Federal Register of Legislation: Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules 2025, compilation 1, 31 March 2026 (F2026C00274) ↗
- [10] AUSTRAC: real estate program starter kit, getting started ↗
- [11] AUSTRAC media release: AUSTRAC begins issuing infringement notices to non-enrolled businesses, 30 September 2026 ↗
Disclaimer: this guide is general information for Australian property developers. It is not legal or compliance advice for your circumstances; check AUSTRAC guidance and get advice before you rely on it.
