Guide

AUSTRAC penalties: what non-compliance actually costs

Last updated 8 September 2026

AUSTRAC can impose significant civil penalties for AML/CTF non-compliance, and the cost of a penalty or a failed audit far exceeds the cost of staying compliant. Penalties can apply to failing to enrol, not having a compliant program, or not reporting when required.

What can AUSTRAC penalise?

• Failing to enrol with AUSTRAC when required.
• Not having a compliant AML/CTF program in place.
• Failing to carry out customer due diligence.
• Failing to lodge suspicious matter or threshold transaction reports.
• Failing to keep the required records.

How large can the penalties be?

AML/CTF civil penalties are set in penalty units and can be very large per contravention, and a single failure can involve many contraventions. AUSTRAC publishes its enforcement actions, and past penalties against larger entities have run into the millions. AUSTRAC is the authority on current penalty amounts.

The cheaper path

For a small business, the cost of compliance software is a small fraction of a single penalty, let alone the cost of a failed audit or the disruption of an enforcement action. Being compliant and audit-ready is the lower-risk, lower-cost path.

Questions, answered.

What penalties can AUSTRAC impose?

AUSTRAC can impose significant civil penalties for AML/CTF non-compliance, including for failing to enrol, not having a compliant program, or not reporting when required. Amounts are set in penalty units and can be very large per contravention.

What happens if I do not enrol on time?

Failing to enrol when required is a breach AUSTRAC can act on. Enrol by your deadline and put a program in place to avoid it.

Is compliance cheaper than the penalty?

For a small business, yes, by a wide margin. Compliance software costs a small fraction of a single penalty or a failed audit.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. The official source is austrac.gov.au.