[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":176},["ShallowReactive",2],{"settings-data":3,"blog-data-aml-ctf-changes":25,"footer-data":75,"footer1-navigation-data":120,"main-navigation-data":133,"footer2-navigation-data":161,"cookie-banner-data":164,"main-navigation-button-data":168},{"data":4},{"globalSetting":5},{"data":6},{"attributes":7},{"GA4PropertyID":8,"PrimaryColor":9,"SecondaryColor":10,"linkedinLink":11,"twitterLink":12,"facebookLink":13,"instagramLink":14,"Address":15,"NewsletterPopup":12,"logo":16},"54321GT","#e2ef1e","#0f0f0e","https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightbeamca",null,"https://www.facebook.com/lightbeamca","https://www.instagram.com/lightbeamca","1st Floor, \n73 Oxford Street,\nBulimba QLD 4171",{"data":17},{"attributes":18},{"url":19,"width":20,"height":21,"alternativeText":22,"hash":23,"ext":24},"https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/lightbeam_logo_3a1e805016.svg",262,36,"Light beam logo","lightbeam_logo_3a1e805016",".svg",{"data":26},{"blogs":27},{"data":28},[29],{"attributes":30},{"Title":31,"Description":32,"Content":33,"Image":34,"seo":68,"Author":72,"pubDate":73,"updatedAt":74},"AML CTF Changes","From 1 July 2026, AUSTRAC is expanding their anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing to cover accountants providing designated services. ","## Important Changes Are Coming to How We Work With You\n\nFrom 1 July 2026, new laws will change how every accounting practice in Australia works with their clients. It’s not complicated, but it is important — and understanding what’s ahead will help things run smoothly when the time comes.\n\nLet’s be honest. When you hear \"AML\" or “anti-money laundering laws,” your first thought probably isn’t that’s about me. And you’d be right — it’s not about you. But it will affect you.\n\nThe Australian Government is expanding its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws to cover accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, and other professionals who handle transactions and structures on behalf of their clients. AUSTRAC — the government agency that oversees financial crime prevention — calls these “gatekeeper professions,” and from 1 July 2026, they’ll be regulated in the same way banks have been for years.\n\nWhat does that mean in plain terms? It means we now have a legal obligation to know exactly who they’re working with before they can help you with certain types of work. And they’ll need your cooperation to do it.\n\nHere are the five things you need to understand.\n\n### 1. Not Everything Is Affected — But the Important Stuff Is\nYour regular tax return, BAS, bookkeeping, and general business advice aren’t changing. Those services carry on as normal.\n\nBut when we help you with what AUSTRAC calls “designated services” — setting up a company or trust, restructuring an entity, assisting with a property transaction, managing or holding funds on your behalf, or arranging financing — they’re now required to verify your identity and carry out due diligence checks before any of that work can begin.\n\nThe key word is before. Not during. Not after. Before.\n\n### 2. You’ll Need to Prove Who You Are\nThink of it like opening a bank account. When you request a designated service, we’ll need to verify your identity — typically a current photo ID such as a driver’s licence or passport — along with your date of birth, residential address, and contact details. If you operate through a company, trust, or partnership, entity registration details and information about anyone who owns or controls 25% or more of the entity will also be required.\n\nIn many cases, we may already have some of these documents on file — trust deeds, company constitutions, ASIC extracts, and similar records are sometimes kept at our office. Where that’s the case, we’ll work with the documents they already have and only ask you for anything that’s missing or needs updating.\n\nIn some cases, we may ask where the money for a particular transaction is coming from, or whether you or a close family member hold a prominent public position. These aren’t unusual or suspicious questions — they’re standard checks that the law now requires.\n\n### 3. We Can’t Start the Work Until the Checks Are Done\nThis is the part that catches people off guard. Under the new laws, we’re legally prohibited from providing a designated service until they’ve completed the required identity verification and due diligence. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known each other. It doesn’t matter how straightforward the work is. If the checks aren’t done, the work can’t start.\n\nThat’s not us being difficult. That’s the law. And the fastest way to avoid delays is to respond promptly when we request any missing information.\n\n### 4. Existing Clients — What to Expect\nIf you’ve been a client of our practice before 1 July 2026, you’re considered a “pre-commencement customer.” You won’t need to do anything on day one.\n\nThe due diligence process is triggered when you request a new designated service — for example, if you ask us to set up a new trust, restructure a company, or assist with a property transaction. At that point, we’ll need to complete identity checks before the work can proceed.\n\nWe may also conduct periodic checks to confirm your details are still current — this is part of our ongoing monitoring obligations under the new rules and is standard practice.\n\n### 5. Your Privacy Is Protected\nEverything we collect under these new rules is used strictly for AML compliance — nothing else. Your information is handled under the Australian Privacy Principles, stored securely, and kept for a minimum of seven years as required by law. It won’t be used for marketing, shared with third parties, or used for any purpose beyond what the legislation requires.\n\n### Here’s What We’d Ask You to Do\nRight now, you don’t need to do anything. We’re letting you know about these changes in advance so there are no surprises down the track.\nWhen you do need a designated service, we’ll guide you through the process at that time. In many cases, we may already have key documents like your trust deed, company constitution, or ASIC records on file — so the process may be quicker than you expect.\n\nIf you’d like to get ahead of the process, the most useful thing you can do is make sure your photo ID is current and your contact details are up to date. Beyond that, we’ll handle it when the time comes.\n\nWe’re sharing this with you now so you have plenty of time to understand what’s ahead. You don’t need to take any action at this stage — when a designated service is needed, we’ll guide you through the process step by step. If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re here to help.\n",{"data":35},{"attributes":36},{"url":37,"alternativeText":38,"width":39,"height":39,"formats":40,"hash":67,"ext":42},"https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27.png","AML CTF Changes ",1080,{"large":41,"small":49,"medium":55,"thumbnail":61},{"ext":42,"url":43,"hash":44,"mime":45,"name":46,"path":12,"size":47,"width":48,"height":48},".png","https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/large_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27.png","large_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27","image/png","large_AML CTF Changes.png",85.66,1000,{"ext":42,"url":50,"hash":51,"mime":45,"name":52,"path":12,"size":53,"width":54,"height":54},"https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/small_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27.png","small_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27","small_AML CTF Changes.png",37.24,500,{"ext":42,"url":56,"hash":57,"mime":45,"name":58,"path":12,"size":59,"width":60,"height":60},"https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/medium_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27.png","medium_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27","medium_AML CTF Changes.png",60.13,750,{"ext":42,"url":62,"hash":63,"mime":45,"name":64,"path":12,"size":65,"width":66,"height":66},"https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbnail_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27.png","thumbnail_AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27","thumbnail_AML CTF Changes.png",9.78,156,"AML_CTF_Changes_2f689dea27",{"metaTitle":69,"metaViewport":12,"metaRobots":12,"metaDescription":32,"keywords":70,"metaSocial":71},"A summary of AML CTF Changes","AML ",[],"Andrew McVinish","2026-09-30","2026-10-13T03:15:40.594Z",{"data":76},{"footer":77},{"data":78},{"attributes":79},{"FooterDescription":80,"FooterLink":81},"Website created by WeArePF | Liability limited by scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation",[82,94,107],{"id":83,"Text":84,"Link":85,"Icon":86},"2","hello@lightbeamca.com.au","mailto:hello@lightbeamca.com.au ",{"data":87},{"attributes":88},{"ext":24,"alternativeText":89,"name":90,"url":91,"hash":92,"width":93,"height":93,"formats":12},"Email icon","email-icon.svg","https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/email_icon_ed33ba1343.svg","email_icon_ed33ba1343",29,{"id":95,"Text":96,"Link":97,"Icon":98},"1","1300 530 478","tel:+1300 530 478",{"data":99},{"attributes":100},{"ext":24,"alternativeText":101,"name":102,"url":103,"hash":104,"width":105,"height":106,"formats":12},"Mobile icon","lb-mobile-icon.svg","https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/lb_mobile_icon_775f8426f0.svg","lb_mobile_icon_775f8426f0",18,27,{"id":108,"Text":109,"Link":110,"Icon":111},"3","1st Floor, 73 Oxford Street,\u2028Bulimba QLD 4171","https://maps.app.goo.gl/ToEX39UsKjMDdGjV7",{"data":112},{"attributes":113},{"ext":24,"alternativeText":114,"name":115,"url":116,"hash":117,"width":118,"height":119,"formats":12},"Location icon","lb-location-icon.svg","https://lightbeam.syd1.digitaloceanspaces.com/lb_location_icon_c029d2da74.svg","lb_location_icon_c029d2da74",23,28,{"data":121},{"renderNavigation":122},[123,128],{"id":124,"title":125,"path":126,"items":127},2,"Privacy policy","/privacy-policy",[],{"id":129,"title":130,"path":131,"items":132},3,"Terms of service","/terms-and-conditions",[],{"data":134},{"renderNavigation":135},[136,141,146,151,156],{"id":137,"title":138,"path":139,"items":140},8,"Services for Tradies","/accounting-for-queensland-tradies",[],{"id":142,"title":143,"path":144,"items":145},5,"About","/about",[],{"id":147,"title":148,"path":149,"items":150},6,"How we work","/how-we-work",[],{"id":152,"title":153,"path":154,"items":155},7,"Pricing","/pricing",[],{"id":157,"title":158,"path":159,"items":160},4,"Blog","/blog",[],{"data":162},{"renderNavigation":163},[],{"data":165},{"cookiePopups":166},{"data":167},[],{"data":169},{"renderNavigation":170},[171],{"id":172,"title":173,"path":174,"items":175},1,"Get started","/contact",[],1791864104278]