The Reporting Entity System Transformation (REST) program has recently undertaken a series of workshops with participants of the Customer Advisory Group on the AUSTRAC Online user interface.

The workshops involved 67 participants, from 37 reporting entities from across 15 different industry groups who each provided feedback of their experience using AUSTRAC Online.

Participants were asked for feedback on how they currently navigate AUSTRAC Online, what functions are most or least often used and what features would make up their "wish list” for the upgraded AUSTRAC Online portal. Consistent feedback we received highlighted the following functions would support you:

• a new dashboard to track the status of transaction reports
• personalised options such as ability to create user’s own shortcuts or quick links to regularly used functions and industry specific news
• a knowledge base hub with centralised access to up to date materials that are consistent with the AUSTRAC website
• improved communications, with new and easier ways to contact AUSTRAC
• enhanced notifications function that would include notifications about recent guidance, status of transaction reports, reminders to complete the AUSTRAC Compliance report, as well as access to emails and responses from AUSTRAC.

Our design team are now considering all feedback from these sessions and we look forward to inviting Customer Advisory Group members to comment on our first design concepts later this year.

ISO 20022 updates for financial institutions

AUSTRAC also continues work to support reporting entities impacted by SWIFT’s move to ISO 20022 format for cross-border messaging with uplifts to bulk (.xml and machine to machine) reporting.

This includes the development of a new IFTI-E v2.0 schema that allows for the submission of IFTI-E’s in the ISO 20022 format, along with a new user interface and API system connectivity for increased submission capacity.

This new functionality has now been released into the AUSTRAC Online training environment enabling impacted reporting entities to commence testing their IFTI-E reporting.

Coming up

Over the next few months, the REST program will reach out to Customer Advisory Group members for input into:

• streamlining the reporting entity enrolment and registration processes
• threshold transaction reports review

Get involved

If you would like to participate in the Customer Advisory Group or would like more information on the upgrades to AUSTRAC Online through the Reporting Entity System Transformation program, please email haveyoursay@austrac.gov.au.

For more information on the program, including how it will support you, upcoming consultations and program deliverables see the Reporting Entity System Transformation Program on the AUSTRAC website.