AML Compliance for Conveyancers
Since 1 July 2026, conveyancers across Australia are captured under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Act for the first time. Whether you are a licensed conveyancer or a solicitor-conveyancer, AML conveyancing obligations now apply to your practice. This page explains what that means and how Visibl helps you meet those obligations without building an in-house compliance team.
Why conveyancing is now regulated
Why conveyancing is now regulated
Property transactions are recognised globally as a potential channel for money laundering and other financial crime. Large sums move through real estate transactions, ownership can be obscured through trusts and corporate structures, and settlements are time-pressured environments where checks can be missed.
Conveyancers sit at the settlement chokepoint. You handle the legal and procedural mechanics of transferring property, which means you are well-placed to detect and disrupt attempts to use that process for financial crime. Under the AML/CTF Act, facilitating property transfers is a designated service. Providing that service makes you a reporting entity with obligations to AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial intelligence regulator.
For further background on the Tranche 2 reforms and which businesses are affected, see our Tranche 2 overview.
Your AML/CTF obligations as a conveyancer
Your AML/CTF obligations as a conveyancer
Conveyancers must meet a defined set of obligations from 1 July 2026. AUSTRAC enrolment opened on 31 March 2026. If you have not yet enrolled, you must do so within 28 days of commencing a designated service from July 2026. For more detail on the enrolment process, see our AUSTRAC enrolment guide. Your AML/CTF obligations include:
- Appointing an AML/CTF compliance officer responsible for your program
- Developing and maintaining a written AML/CTF program and ML/TF risk assessment tailored to your practice
- Conducting customer due diligence (CDD), including Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on individuals and Know Your Business (KYB) checks on companies, trusts and other entities, covering beneficial ownership
- Conducting ongoing CDD for continuing client relationships, proportionate to risk
- Monitoring transactions for suspicious activity
- Lodging Suspicious Matter Reports (SMRs) with AUSTRAC when require
- Keeping records for a minimum of seven years
- Training staff to understand your obligations and identify red flags
Non-compliance can result in enforcement action and significant civil penalties. Under the AML/CTF Act, penalties can reach up to 100,000 penalty units per contravention for a body corporate.
If you practise law as well as conveyancing, see our solutions page for law firms for how Visibl supports the broader legal practice context.
How Visibl helps conveyancers meet their AML/CTF obligations
Most conveyancing practices do not have a dedicated compliance team. Visibl helps you meet your obligations without creating one.
Visibl combines a purpose-built compliance platform with certified AML specialists, so your practice is not left interpreting legislation or managing complex scenarios alone. A guided program builder steps you through a risk questionnaire to produce a written AML/CTF program and risk assessment tailored to conveyancing, not a generic template. Every decision and approval is timestamped and auditable, so if AUSTRAC ever reviews your records, you can demonstrate that your program is real, implemented and up to date.
Conveyancing-specific workflows mean you can complete conveyancing AML checks quickly, send clients a verification link and have results back in minutes. For higher-risk clients, including foreign nationals, complex ownership structures and politically exposed persons, the platform flags the need for enhanced due diligence and your Visibl specialist is available to guide the process.
Staff training is built in, tracked by role, and updated as AUSTRAC guidance evolves. Your compliance officer gets a clear dashboard view of outstanding tasks, upcoming review dates and client risk levels, so nothing gets missed between settlements.
Visibl helps you implement, manage and demonstrate compliance at a fixed monthly cost. See our pricing to compare against the cost of managing this manually.
Clear support across every Tranche 2 obligation. From first policy to final audit
Clear support across every Tranche 2 obligation. From first policy to final audit
Visibl helps law firms meet AML/CTF requirements with confidence by combining automation with certified AML expertise — ensuring compliance is not only completed, but defensible.
Other professions covered by Tranche2 include Real Estate and Accounting. Learn how Visibl can support.
Save up to $17k per year*
The Australian Government estimates the cost of an AML compliance program to be over $23k per year. Learn how you can save money with Visibl.
Tranche 2 is coming. Get ready.
Meet your AML obligations with confidence.
Savings Calculated based on Visibl Starter Plan but does not include additional KYC verifications, users, escalations or support. Annual Subscription AU$3780 plus the one-time onboarding fee AU$2000 deducted from the estimated annual cost burden of $23,800 to the real estate industry determined by the Australian Government. Documented in the 'Reforming Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Countered Terrorism Financing Regime Impact Analysis' by The Australian Government. Page 111.