About AUSTRAC
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator and financial intelligence service. It ensures that businesses are compliant with their reporting and risk management obligations and analyses and provides law enforcement authorities and national security partners with information to assist them in their investigations and operations.
2025-26 Regulatory Priorities guide
In July 2025, AUSTRAC published its 2025-26 Regulatory Priorities guide, which explained where the organisation would be focusing “the majority of our regulatory effort over the next 12 months”.
Strategic objectives and outcomes
The guide consists of two sections:
- AUSTRAC’s strategic objectives
- Intended outcomes for the year ahead to 30 June 2026
The two key strategic objectives for 2025-26 are:
- Improving money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing (ML/TF/PF) risk management by ensuring reporting entities have implemented effective anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) controls
- Enabling AUSTRAC’s intelligence function via high quality transaction reporting as provided by reporting entities
The guide reveals that AUSTRAC intends to focus on the most significant ML/TF/PF risks and has plans to “achieve iterative improvements over specific timeframes”.
Areas of focus
The second half of the guide covers seven areas of focus (dubbed “outcomes”) – programs that are either in-flight or will be developed via “targeted projects and campaigns”. All seven outcomes feature a date by which AUSTRAC hopes to achieve its goals: 30 June 2026, the day before new AML/CTF obligations commence for tranche 2 entities, as set out in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act).
- Outcome 1: Ensuring tranche 2 entities understand their AML/CTF obligations and begin properly managing ML/TF/PF risks
- Outcome 2: Existing reporting entities updating their AML/CTF practice and programs to meet legislative expectations
- Outcome 3: Ensuring more entities understand and comply with suspicious matter reporting (SMR) obligations
- Outcome 4: Improving ML/TF/PF risk management among virtual asset service provider and digital currency exchange sectors
- Outcome 5: Improving risk management of reporting entities whose cash exposure produces ML/TF/PF risks
- Outcome 6: Increase enrolment detail updates among reporting entities
- Outcome 7: Improving capability and coordination in Pacific region of management of ML/TF/PF risks
Outcomes
Outcome 1: Ensuring tranche 2 entities understand their AML/CTF obligations and begin properly managing ML/TF/PF risks
AUSTRAC will initiate regulatory interventions against tranche 2 entities who have failed to meet their AML/CTF compliance obligations or have failed to enrol or register by 30 June 2026.
Outcome 2: Existing reporting entities updating their AML/CTF practice and programs to meet legislative expectations
AUSTRAC will be initiating regulatory interventions on entities who have not managed their ML/TF/PF risks properly during the transition period or cannot provide evidence of an updated AML/CTF plan.
Outcome 3: Ensuring more entities understand and comply with suspicious matter reporting obligations
AUSTRAC will identify low- and non-reporters whose risk exposure and business profile suggests they should be lodging regular reports and will help them improve their AML/CTF systems and processes to lodge better quality SMRs.
Outcome 4: Improving ML/TF/PF risk management among virtual asset service providers and digital currency exchange sectors
Only those businesses able to demonstrate competency and readiness to manage ML/TF/PF risks will be registered as digital currency exchange service providers. AUSTRAC will also initiate regulatory interventions against digital currency exchange and virtual asset service providers who are irresponsible and at risk of criminal exploitation.
Outcome 5: Improving risk management of reporting entities whose cash exposure produces ML/TF/PF risks
AUSTRAC will identify entities not appropriately managing cash-related ML/TF/PF risks and will encourage the adoption of “industry-recognised controls” to assist in managing those risks.
Outcome 6: Increase enrolment detail updates among reporting entities
AUSTRAC will use a variety of different channels to remind reporting entities of the importance of maintaining up-to-date enrolment details.
Outcome 7: Improving capability and coordination in Pacific region of management of ML/TF/PF risks
Increased support will be provided to the Pacific AML/CTF Supervisors Forum (PSF), notably via the creation of a PSF Secretariat that is aligned with the Pacific Financial Intelligence Community Secretariat; ensuring the creation and execution of the PSF annual meeting; and establishing an annual work program.
Key takeaways
The 2025-26 regulatory priorities guide provides the public with guidance around AUSTRAC’s key priorities for the year by identifying its principal strategic objectives for the period, as well as its seven areas of focus, each of which has its own deadline and desired set of outcomes.
