The news: The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) will hone in on regulatory gaps in high-risk sectors such as digital currencies and cash, according to its new regulatory priorities for financial year 2026.
The context: AUSTRAC has released its FY26 regulatory priorities, which highlights seven outcomes it hopes to deliver by 30 June 2026 to reduce the harms of serious crime such as money laundering and terrorism financing.
This includes a focus on improved money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing (ML/TF/PF) risk management within the digital currency exchange and virtual asset service provider sectors.
By the end of the year, businesses will need to demonstrate “competence and readiness to manage” these risks in order to be registered as a digital currency exchange service provider by AUSTRAC.
The regulator will further focus on “regulatory interventions on improving the adoption of industry-recognised controls to manage vulnerabilities associated with cash”.
Even as the medium of exchange is gradually displaced, AUSTRAC flagged that $103 billion of cash is still in circulation and it is a “mainstay of money laundering”.
The year will also be spent preparing to regulate ‘tranche two’ industries, such as real estate agents, lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, trust and company service providers and dealers in precious metals and stones, before they are captured by the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulatory regime from 1 July 2026.
What they said: “This year marks a regulatory shift – from regulation that primarily checks for compliance to one focussed on substantive risks and harms,” AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said.
“AUSTRAC will look at risk and behaviour at an industry and sector level rather than focussing solely on individual entities.”