Risks and indicators of suspicious activity
Read our latest insights on risks and indicators of suspicious activity for your industry.
On this page
- How the indicators can help you
- Latest insights on risks
- Indicators of suspicious activity for tranche 2 reporting entities
- Indicators of suspicious activity for current reporting entities
- Related pages
Understanding your money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks (we refer to these as your ML/TF risks) can protect your business from criminal exploitation. It also helps you meet your anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) obligations.
How the indicators can help you
We publish resources and indicators of suspicious activity to help you identify and manage potential:
- money laundering
- terrorism financing
- proliferation financing
- other serious and organised criminal activity.
You must consider information we’ve communicated to you that’s relevant to ML/TF risks when you develop or update your ML/TF risk assessment.
Latest insights on risks
In 2024, we published 2 national risk assessments on money laundering and terrorism financing. They provide insight into the scale, sophistication and threat of money laundering and terrorism financing in Australia.
These resources are designed to help you understand the methods that criminals use to launder proceeds of crime or fund extremist violence. They highlight that some professional services soon to be regulated by us, namely lawyers, accountants and trust and company service providers, pose a significant money laundering vulnerability.
In 2022, we also published a national risk assessment on proliferation financing. Proliferation financing is when a person makes an asset available, provides a financial service or conducts a financial transaction that’s intended to facilitate the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regardless of whether the activity occurs or is attempted. In Australia, such activity is prohibited under a range of laws.
Indicators of suspicious activity for tranche 2 reporting entities
View our new indicators for industries that will be regulated by us from 1 July 2026:
Indicators of suspicious activity for current reporting entities
View indicators specific to your industry:
- Banking
- Bookmakers
- Bullion dealers
- Casinos
- Virtual asset service providers (Digital currency exchange)
- Financial planners
- Life insurance
- Not for profits
- Online betting agencies
- Pubs and clubs
- Remittance service providers
- Securities and derivatives
- Superannuation
- Non-bank lenders and financiers
Risk insights for virtual asset service providers
View risk insights for virtual asset service providers.
Related pages
This guidance sets out how we interpret the Act, along with associated Rules and regulations. Australian courts are ultimately responsible for interpreting these laws and determining if any provisions of these laws are contravened.
The examples and scenarios in this guidance are meant to help explain our interpretation of these laws. They’re not exhaustive or meant to cover every possible scenario.
This guidance provides general information and isn't a substitute for legal advice. This guidance avoids legal language wherever possible and it might include generalisations about the application of the law. Some provisions of the law referred to have exceptions or important qualifications. In most cases your particular circumstances must be taken into account when determining how the law applies to you.