Executive Summary
AUSTRAC has advised that the following are not regulated designated services:
- Conveyancers acting for a seller who receive a deposit from a buyer in their trust account;
- Bookkeepers processing routine payments for clients.
Update – in detail
On 12 June 2026, AUSTRAC provided some further guidance in relation to certain professional designated services. The guidance is in the form of an update to its Professional Designated Services webpage (https://www.austrac.gov.au/new-austrac/designated-services-newly-regulated-entities/professional-designated-services).
Item 3 of the Table 6 broadly defines the following as being a designated service:
receiving, holding and controlling (including disbursing) or managing a person’s
- money
- accounts
- securities and securities accounts
- virtual assets, or
- other property
as part of assisting the person in the planning or execution of a transaction, or otherwise acting for or on behalf of a person in a transaction, in the course of carrying on a business (other than in a circumstance covered by subsection (5C))
In AUSTRAC’s view ‘receiving, holding and controlling money and property’ is a separate service from ‘managing money or other property.’ According to AUSTRAC, the former covers situations where a professional receives and holds a person’s money or other property and controls when and where it is disbursed as part of directly advancing a transaction. The later involves deciding, administering or directing how a person’s money or property is dealt with.
Examples
AUSTRAC has provided the following example of when the designated service of holding, controlling and disbursing money will apply:
An accounting practice provides services to the owner of a small business as their client. Outside of preparing accounts and tax returns, the client asks the accounting business to pay a number of the client’s expenses on their behalf, including a business lease payment and school fees for a family member.
The client transfers money to the accounting practice’s bank account. The accounting practice then uses those funds to pay the lease provider and the school on the owner’s instructions.
In this scenario, the accounting practice is likely to be receiving, holding and controlling their client’s money. The business receives the funds directly to their bank account, holds them for a period, and controls their disbursement to third parties. The accounting practice is acting as an intermediary in transactions the owner could have carried out directly.
As a result, the accounting practice would be providing a designated service under item 3, unless an exemption in subsection 6(5C) applies.
AUSTRAC has advised that this designated service does not extend to circumstances where a professional receives and holds their client’s funds within their trust account on their client’s behalf, where they have no control over the disbursement of those funds.
AUSTRAC has provided the following example of when the designated service of holding, controlling and disbursing money will not apply:
[If] you are holding money on escrow to be paid under a contractual agreement, your customer is your direct client, not the counterparty who originally paid the money to you.
Based on this, it appears that AUSTRAC’s view is that if you are acting for a seller in a real estate transaction, holding a deposit paid by a buyer into your trust account would not constitute a designated service.
AUSTRAC has provided the following examples of when the designated services of managing another person’s money will not apply:
- A bookkeeping practice has authority to access a client’s business bank account to perform routine monthly activities such as processing payroll, paying supplier invoices, paying rent and utilities, making routine loan repayments, and remitting GST and PAYG to the ATO. The bookkeeper processes these payments in accordance with fixed client instructions and pre-existing contractual, employment or legal obligations, and does not have discretion to redirect funds, substitute beneficiaries, or materially vary the purpose of the payments.
- The money or other property is payment for goods or services you provide.
- Payments to government or the courts.
- The client money is held as an ancillary payment to support the practice’s non-designated service.
AUSTRAC’s guidance also confirms that the customer is the person you’re providing the professional service to and that a person does not become the customer of a designated service simply because their money passes through your trust account as part of a transaction in which you are acting for someone else.
What you need to do
In light of this recent guidance from AUSTRAC, you should review your AML/CTF program and consider if item 3 of the Table 6 should be removed from your AML/CTF program.
Disclaimer
This alert is for general information only and is not legal advice. AML/CTF obligations are fact-specific and must be implemented through your own AML/CTF Program. We recommend you seek tailored advice for your practice. New Era Lawyers is not liable for any reliance on this update.
