By: Zane Jackson, Queensland Law Society
So, you’re buying a property after July 1, 2026.
Maybe it’s your first, or maybe you’ve done this a few times before.
Either way, you’re not surprised when the solicitor handling your conveyancing starts asking questions.
Properties aren’t straightforward, and no one wants a contract to fall over or for there to be costly mistakes in the paperwork.
But then the questions keep coming.
Are you a politically exposed person (whatever that means)? Can you explain how you got the funds? Is anyone else benefiting from the transaction who isn’t formally listed?
Woah, hang on.
It might feel like your lawyer is being nosier than usual, maybe even a bit too personal. But this will now be a stock standard part of the property purchasing process.
That’s because new anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws are kicking in for certain legal and real estate services.
These laws are designed to help deter, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorism financing.
In practice, it means your lawyer now must ask more questions. They need to verify who you are, understand the transaction, and assess whether there’s any risk before they can act for you.
Here’s why.
Serious and organised crime costs Australia tens of billions of dollars each year, and a lot of it relies on moving money in ways that hide where it came from.
Money laundering allows criminals to take the profits from illegal activities and feed that money back into the legitimate economy, often through transactions that look completely ordinary.
That same system can also be used to move funds linked to terrorism. In some cases, it’s not large or obvious transfers, but small, routine payments that blend in with everyday financial activity.
In many cases, it doesn’t look suspicious at all. It looks like an ordinary property purchase, business deal or bank transfer.
Australia has had AML/CTF laws for years, covering sectors like banking, gambling, remittance services and digital currency exchanges.
In late 2024, the Australian Government passed reforms to expand the AML/CTF regime into other high risk areas, including lawyers involved in conveyancing and real estate agents.
So while it might feel intrusive, lawyers are now under a legal obligation to ask more questions and, where needed, dig deeper.
In simple terms, that might include questions about:
- Who you are (including date of birth, address, occupation, and country of residence)
- Who you’re acting for, whether you’re authorised to do so, details of that person
- Who ultimately benefits from the transaction
- Whether you’re a politically exposed person (ie: member of parliament, high ranking member of a government body or court etc.) or subject to sanctions
- The purpose of the transaction
- Where the money is coming from eg: mortgage, loan, bank of mum and dad, gift, inheritance
- If you are a sole trader, your ABN, trading name, address of principal place of business, nature of your business.
It’s not about making the process harder, it’s about closing gaps that have been used to move illicit money, often through completely legitimate looking transactions.
Your solicitor is not being difficult but under the AML/CTF laws, they cannot provide the service if you do not first provide this information.
While the questions will feel new to start with, they’ll soon be a normal part of how property and certain other legal transactions are handled.
