Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP)NOTES ON CLAUSES
Preliminary
Clause 1 – Short title
1. Clause 1 of the Bill provides for the short title of the Act to be the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024.
Clause 2 – Commencement
2. Clause 2 of the Bill provides for the commencement of each Schedule of the Bill, as set out in the table. Each provision of the Bill specified in column 1 of the table commences in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
3. There are varying commencement times for the Schedules and in some cases, Parts of this Bill:
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- Clauses 1–3 of the Bill commence the day of Royal Assent.
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- Parts 1–3 of Schedule 9 and Schedules 11 and 12 commence 28 days after receiving Royal Assent.
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- Schedules 1–3, Part 1 of Schedule 5, Part 1 of Schedule 6, Schedule 8 and Schedule 10 commence on 31 March 2026.
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- Schedules 4 and 7 commence on 1 July 2026.
4. These commencement times are designed to ensure reporting entities have sufficient time to transition and plan for the changes to the AML/CTF regime, while ensuring changes are in place for Australia's mutual evaluation by the FATF in 2026-27.
5. Of particular note, Schedule 3 and Part 1 of Schedule 6, which expand the AML/CTF regime to new designated services, commence on 31 March 2026. Part 4 of Schedule 3 contains transitional provisions which mean that new reporting entities that provide tranche two designated services set out in Schedule 3 may enrol as reporting entities with AUSTRAC from 31 March 2026. However, regulatory obligations under Part 1A, 2, 3 and Divisions 2 to 6 of Part 10 of the AML/CTF Act do not apply until 1 July 2026.
6. There are also a range of amendments that are contingent on other legislation progressing through the Parliament. These are:
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- The commencement of Part 2 of Schedule 5 and Part 4 of Schedule 9 are contingent on the commencement of Schedule 1 in the Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Act 2024.
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- The commencement of Part 2 of Schedule 6 is contingent on the commencement of Schedule 2 in the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Act 2024.
Clause 3 – Schedules
7. Clause 3 of the Bill sets out that legislation specified in a particular Schedule of the Bill is amended or repealed by the applicable items in the Schedule concerned.