What are AUSTRAC's core reporting obligations?

Q: What are AUSTRAC's core reporting obligations?

Reporting entities must file Suspicious Matter Reports (SMR) for transactions or customers that give rise to suspicion; Threshold Transaction Reports (TTR) for cash transactions of AUD 10,000 or more; and International Funds Transfer Instructions (IFTI) for cross-border electronic fund transfers. Each report type has a specific deadline and must be submitted via AUSTRAC Online.

AUSTRAC reporting entities have three primary transaction reporting obligations, each governed by specific sections of the AML/CTF Act 2006 and submitted via AUSTRAC Online:

1. Suspicious Matter Report (SMR)

Required under section 41 of the Act. You must lodge an SMR when you form a suspicion on reasonable grounds that a transaction or customer may be relevant to an investigation of a possible offence, that a customer is not who they claim to be, or that the matter involves terrorism financing or money laundering. The deadline is 3 business days after forming the suspicion (24 hours for terrorism-related matters). Critically, you must not disclose to the customer that an SMR has been or may be filed — doing so is the criminal offence of tipping off.

2. Threshold Transaction Report (TTR)

Required under section 43. Any transaction involving the physical transfer of AUD 10,000 or more in cash (or equivalent in foreign currency) must be reported within 10 business days. This applies regardless of suspicion — the threshold alone triggers the obligation. Structuring transactions (deliberately breaking them into smaller amounts to avoid the AUD 10,000 threshold) is a separate criminal offence under section 142.

3. International Funds Transfer Instruction (IFTI)

Required under section 45. Any instruction to transfer money into or out of Australia electronically must be reported within 10 business days. This captures wire transfers and SWIFT messages where the originating or destination institution is outside Australia. It applies to the sending and receiving institution, not to the customer directly.

AML/CTF programme obligation

Beyond transaction reports, every reporting entity must have a documented AML/CTF programme — a written policy covering how the business identifies, mitigates, and manages its ML/TF risks. The programme has two parts: Part A (governance and operational risk) and Part B (customer identification and verification procedures). AUSTRAC may request a copy at any time and will assess it during a compliance assessment.