Speaking at the recent Regulating the Game 2025, Austrac CEO Brendan Thomas warned pubs and clubs that their anti-money laundering (AML) responsibilities are not one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, he emphasised the need for executives and boards to adopt a more tailored strategy.
He highlighted a key failure observed by the financial watchdog is that some boards and executives take a “flick and switch” approach to compliance.
“We’ve seen many examples of pubs and clubs using templates for their AML programs, but without tailoring the templates to their specific business,” he explained.
“When we asked some of those pubs and clubs about the details of their programs, they were actually surprised by some of the risks listed, or the controls that were meant to be put in place, under their own program. They had no idea about the finer details, they just ticked the box that they had a program in place.”
Thomas reminded that while outsourcing the development of an AML program or using a template is acceptable, it is still their responsibility to ensure the program is tailored to their business and reflects their systems and controls.
“You can outsource the work, but you can’t outsource your legal liability,” he said.
Thomas also warned that smaller venues or repeat offenders would not be given leniency, if they’re caught out for non-compliance.
“If you have the idea that Austrac will continuously educate and educate and educate and then maybe take action years later – you are mistaken,” he said.
“If you think your business is too small to take responsibility for compliance – you are also mistaken. If you think Austrac won’t take further action against you because it has done so before – you are again mistaken.
“Your services and the gambling industry have been subject to this regime for many years now. It is your responsibility to comply with the law.”
Thomas also cautioned businesses against reverting back to risky old ways of operating.
“We often see businesses letting old practices start to seep back and risk appetites starting to increase after a couple of years. We’d rather see businesses adapt their business model, like the casinos … and remain compliant. “
“One point that I’d like to highlight, is that many legitimate gambling businesses still need to come to terms with the fact they can’t run a business on ill-gotten gains. In some cases, this has meant losing a large chunk of revenue that is never coming back.”
Changes to tipping off offence
Additionally, businesses and individuals bound by the tipping off offence must now consider whether a disclosure could be expected to prejudice an investigation, under changes to the AML/CTF laws that came into force on Monday.
Under the changes, businesses and individuals covered by the AML/CTF legislation, are now prohibited from disclosing certain information to another person, other than Austrac, only where it would or could reasonably be expected to prejudice an investigation.
The changes to the offence, which carries a maximum penalty of around $39,000 or up to two years in prison, are now focussed on the harms that could flow from a disclosure.
Thomas said the changes are part of reforms passed late last year to expand and simplify the AML/CTF legislation.
“The change to the offence is about balancing intelligence gathering with practicality to ensure we can all get the best outcome – identifying criminal activity and driving money laundering out of legitimate businesses,” he said.
“We need businesses to work with us to detect illicit transactions – tipping off risks criminals getting a heads up. Criminals can then take action to hide or disguise their illegal activities. However, we know that effective information sharing within and between businesses helps stop money laundering.”
While the tipping offence changes come effective from Monday, most of the obligations under the amended AML/CTF Act will not come into effect until 2026.