As part of significant reforms to Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) laws, accounting firms that provide certain services will be required to comply with new customer identification and due diligence obligations from 1 July 2026.

What this means for you is that, before we can provide certain services, we may be required by law to verify your identity and collect additional information about you, your business, your company or trust structure, and in some circumstances, the source of funds involved in a transaction.

What services are affected?

The new requirements generally apply where we provide certain designated services, including activities such as:

• Establishing companies, trusts or partnerships;
• Assisting with the buying or selling of businesses or business assets;
• Acting on behalf of clients in relation to certain financial or business transactions;
• Providing registered office or business address services in some circumstances;
• Assisting with the management or administration of companies or trusts where the legislation applies; and
• Other services that are classified as “designated services” under the AML/CTF legislation.

What information may we need from you?

Depending on the services we provide, we may ask you to provide:

• Identification documents, such as a driver’s licence or passport;
• Confirmation of your residential address and date of birth;
• Details of directors, shareholders, trustees, beneficiaries or other individuals who own or control an entity;
• Information about the purpose and nature of the services being provided;
• Information regarding the source of funds or source of wealth in certain circumstances; and
• Confirmation as to whether you are a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), or a family member or close associate of a PEP.

Existing clients will also be affected

These requirements apply not only to new clients but also to many of our existing clients. Even if you have been a client of our firm for many years, we may still need to complete identity verification and customer due diligence checks before providing new certain services after 1 July 2026.

Why are these changes being introduced?

The reforms are part of a national initiative to strengthen Australia’s ability to detect and prevent money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious financial crimes. Similar identity verification requirements have existed for many years for banks and other financial institutions and are now being extended to additional professional service providers, including accounting firms, lawyers and real estate agents.

What do you need to do?

At this stage, no action is required. If these requirements apply to the services we provide to you, we will contact you directly with instructions on the information we require and how to provide it securely.

We encourage clients to respond promptly to any identity verification requests, as in some cases we may be unable to provide certain services until the required checks have been completed.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we implement these important changes.

You can find more information on the AUSTRAC website: https://www.austrac.gov.au/general-public

If you have any questions, please contact our office and we will be happy to assist.