Use current service guidance
AUSTRAC publishes both real-estate industry guidance and a dedicated designated-services page. The scope review should use the actual role and transaction arrangement. Do not assume that every property activity has the same treatment or that a general description from before the reforms remains current. This guide is an entry point, not a decision for a particular sale, leasehold arrangement or licence to occupy. The latest guidance includes changes in this area.
Examine the source wording and applicable law before applying an exclusion.
Sources: AUSTRAC: Industry guidance index; AUSTRAC: Real estate designated services; Federal Register of Legislation: Sections 6, 41, 43 and 47; Part 3.
- Brokering service
Examine item 1 of table 5 and the actual transaction arrangement.
- Represented party
Identify the party the agent represents.
- Other party
The other side is also a customer for this service.
Brokering can involve two AML customers
For the item 1 brokering service, both sides are customers. Service timing differs between parties. Item 2 direct sales have a different customer definition.
Connected concepts. Lines do not show ownership or a reporting hierarchy.
The customer can include both parties
Item 1 of table 5 concerns brokering a real estate sale, purchase or transfer in the course of a business. Both parties are customers.
A seller’s agent must therefore consider the buyer as well as the seller. The service has different start points for the represented and other party.
Item 2 concerns a business selling real estate without an independent real estate agent brokering the sale. The buyer or transferee is the customer.
A private sale or incidental sale of business premises does not qualify under item 2 merely because property changes hands. An agent must assess item 1 separately.
- Brokered transaction
A fictional agent brokers a sale under the relevant item 1 service.
- Seller
Identify the represented party and the applicable start point.
- Buyer
Examine the other party and its applicable start point.
- Separate scope
A private seller’s position does not remove the agent’s need to assess its own designated service.
The agent’s service has two sides
The labelled links describe the arrangement. They do not determine its legal treatment.
Invented example. Agent brokers the sale. Seller: Party to the sale. Buyer: Party to the sale.
Put the two customer start points into the workflow
For a seller’s agent, service to the seller starts when the agreement to broker the transaction is signed.
Service to the buyer starts when the transaction is reasonably expected to proceed. This is typically when the offer is accepted and the contract is signed.
A buyer’s agent has corresponding start points. Record the relevant point for each party. Settlement is not a universal starting event.
Auction timing and delayed CDD require separate assessment. The delay provisions do not permit every urgent sale to proceed without the required checks.
Invented example: follow the sale as the parties and payer change
In this fictional brokered sale, the agency first records the seller and agency agreement. Later, the successful buyer is a company and its representative supplies instructions. The file then needs to show the buyer-side review at its applicable start point, including the relevant identity, authority and ownership questions. The seller’s completed file does not answer those questions for the buyer.
Before completion, the buyer proposes that a different company will supply part of the payment. The agency records the payer, explanation and available evidence, then follows its approved escalation process. It does not assume that a conveyancer, lender or the other agent has resolved every question on its behalf.
The reviewer separates the change in payment information from any decision about suspicion or reporting. A legitimate arrangement may describe the payer, but the explanation needs assessment. The example does not give the agency a universal duty to obtain every bank record or a power to approve settlement. It shows how to make the new information and responsibility visible.
Sources: AUSTRAC: Industry guidance index; AUSTRAC: Real estate designated services; Federal Register of Legislation: Sections 6, 41, 43 and 47; Part 3; AUSTRAC: Brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate; When you start providing a designated service; Selling or transferring real estate without an independent real estate agent; When you start providing this designated service.
- Seller engagement
Record the represented customer and the applicable service start.
- Buyer identified
Review the other customer at its separate applicable start point.
- Different payer
Record the changed payment information and explanation.
- Review and handover
Assign unresolved questions and assess the relevant CDD and reporting duties.
Follow the buyer information as the sale changes
Invented example. Timing exceptions and participant responsibilities require separate assessment.
Follow the process from top to bottom.
Keep the handover clear
The example agency uses a short internal handover that identifies the customer, service, new information and required reviewer. It avoids putting restricted conclusions into a shared customer-facing note. Staff need to know how to raise a concern without promising the customer an outcome they cannot authorise. These are suggested communication arrangements. They do not replace the legal rules or create a universal script.
The business should test its process against its actual roles, systems and service types rather than copy a generic diagram unchanged.
Sources: AUSTRAC: Industry guidance index; AUSTRAC: Real estate designated services; Federal Register of Legislation: Sections 6, 41, 43 and 47; Part 3.
Connect the requirements to agency work
Identify the scope, program, CDD and reporting requirements that apply to the agency. Staff should be able to find the relevant instruction when a property transaction changes or information is missing. Avoid making an assessment result sound like approval from AUSTRAC. This guide and any starter kit do not confirm compliance. The business still needs to apply current requirements to its services and keep evidence of its decisions and operating controls.
Sources: AUSTRAC: Industry guidance index; AUSTRAC: Real estate designated services; Federal Register of Legislation: Sections 6, 41, 43 and 47; Part 3.
Examine the direct-sale arrangement separately
For item 2, identify whether the seller carries on a business selling real estate. Also identify whether an independent real estate agent brokers the sale. AUSTRAC includes relevant sales through a developer’s own staff. An internal sales team is not an independent external agency.
In a practical scope note, identify the seller’s business, the property interest and who brokers the transaction. Keep incidental sales and private sales distinct from a business selling real estate. Also consider the agent’s own item 1 position separately. The scope of one participant does not automatically settle the obligations of another participant in the same transaction.