Australia's Historic AML Reform Expands AUSTRAC Oversight

Australia has rolled out its biggest anti‑money laundering reform in two decades. The changes more than double the number of businesses regulated by AUSTRAC, rising from roughly 19,000 to over 50,000. The expansion brings lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and dealers in precious metals and stones under AUSTRAC supervision for the first time. Brad Brown, AUSTRAC’s National Manager for Regulatory Operations, explains why digital currency exchanges were redefined as “virtual asset service providers.” The reclassification aligns AUSTRAC with FATF standards and broadens the definition to include custody, wallets and transfers, not only cash‑to‑crypto conversions. Brown has spent more than two decades at AUSTRAC across intelligence, policy, international engagement and supervision after a career in Australian law enforcement. The conversation also covers AUSTRAC’s outcomes‑focused, risk‑based supervision model. It highlights the scale of the fraud threat, part of an estimated USD 500 billion in global fraud losses in 2024 and 2025. Finally, the discussion describes the Beacon Network, the largest public‑private information‑sharing and seizure network in the crypto ecosystem, and how it helps regulators and exchanges act faster against bad actors.