What is a "designated service" — and which of mine count?
Which parts of your real estate business are inside the AML/CTF regime, and which sit outside it.
The AML/CTF regime does not apply to real estate agents as a profession. It applies to specific services — "designated services" — listed in the AML/CTF Act 2006 (Cth) at section 6, Table 3. For real estate, three items are relevant (Items 53–55):
- Item 53 — Representing a buyer or seller in the transfer of real property.
- Item 54 — Representing a landlord or tenant in the grant or transfer of a leasehold interest in commercial real property.
- Item 55 — Brokering the sale, purchase, or commercial leasing transactions described above.
If you do any of these for a customer, you are providing a designated service and the full AML/CTF framework attaches to that engagement.
What is in scope:
- Sales agency work (residential and commercial)
- Buyer's agent representation
- Auction marketing where you represent the seller
- Commercial leasing (representing landlord or tenant)
- Off-the-plan and project marketing
What is out of scope:
- Residential property management (rent collection, tenant placement, routine inspections) — residential leasing is not a designated service
- Strata management
- Valuations conducted as a standalone service
- Pure marketing or advertising work where you do not represent a party to a transfer
The line between residential and commercial leasing is the one most agencies misread. A mixed-use property leased as a whole for commercial purposes is in scope. Residential tenancy management, even on commercial properties owned by investors, is not.
If your agency does both sales and residential property management, the property management arm sits outside the regime — but the sales arm pulls the agency into it. There is no partial enrolment. Once you provide a single designated service, your entire reporting entity is in.
Most agencies will provide multiple designated services across multiple parties every week, and each one independently triggers the obligations.
What to do next: Map every revenue line in your agency against Items 53–55 and mark each as in scope or out of scope. Keep the analysis on file as part of your programme documentation.