Learn more about IFTIs, which involve an instruction accepted in Australia for money or property to be made available in another country, or vice versa.

An international funds transfer instruction (IFTI) involves either:

  • an instruction accepted in Australia for money or property to be made available in another country
  • an instruction accepted in another country for money or property to be made available in Australia.

The Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Transitional Rules 2026 (the transitional rules) preserve the operation of the pre‑31 March 2026 IFTI reporting requirements.

This means you must continue submitting IFTI reports until your international value transfer service (IVTS) reporting transition date, which will be on or after 31 March 2029. The transitional rules also explain how you will move from IFTI reporting to IVTS reporting.

Learn more about the transitional rules.

If you send an IFTI out of Australia or receive an IFTI into Australia, you must submit an IFTI report to us within 10 business days.

There are two types of IFTI reports:

  • IFTI-Es – for financial institutions transferring money to or from another country
  • IFTI-DRAs – for remittance service providers, casinos and other entities that are not financial institutions, and relate to transfers of money or property.

If you are a casino, see examples of IFTI reporting for casinos.

How to submit IFTI reports

You can submit IFTI reports through AUSTRAC Online. Paper forms are also available from the AUSTRAC Contact Centre.

There are different report forms for IFTI-Es and IFTI-DRAs. AUSTRAC Online provides instructions to help you complete each form.

You can submit reports online through:

  • data entry – manually complete and submit reports (best if you don’t submit many reports)
  • spreadsheet upload – enter IFTI data into a spreadsheet available through AUSTRAC Online.
  • extraction – use a computer program to extract relevant transaction information from your database, collate it into a single file and send it to us via AUSTRAC Online (best if you’re a large business which captures and stores transaction data electronically).

After you submit an IFTI report

AUSTRAC or another partner agency may send you a notice requesting more information about an IFTI report. This may be information about a customer or a particular transfer that could help us in an investigation, such as account information or customer details.

You are legally required to provide this information if you are given the notice.

International electronic funds transfer instructions (IFTI-E)

An IFTI-E is a type of electronic funds transfer instruction (EFTI) for transferring money on behalf of a customer which is sent to or received from another country. In an IFTI-E:

  • the instruction is carried out or passed on electronically
  • the transfer is within the same financial institution or between financial institutions.

An IFTI-E can be either:

  • outgoing – the ordering institution accepts the instruction in Australia and transfers money to the payee via a beneficiary institution overseas
  • incoming – the ordering institution accepts the instruction overseas and transfers money via a beneficiary institution in Australia.

Information required in IFTI-E reports

This section refers to Chapter 16 of the AML/CTF Rules 2007 as in force immediately before 30 March 2026.

IFTI-E reports must include details about all parties involved in the transfer, which are:

  • the payer – who instructs the ordering institution to transfer money
  • the ordering institution – who accepts the transfer instruction
  • the sender (if different to the ordering institution) – who transmits the instruction to the beneficiary institution
  • the beneficiary institution – who receives the instruction and makes the money available to the payee
  • the payee – who ultimately receives the transferred money
  • any intermediary institutions – other institutions in the transfer chain between the sender and beneficiary institution.

You may also need to report:

  • transaction dates
  • the amount and type of currency
  • the identification code assigned to the instruction
  • any information the payer gave to the payee
  • any information one of the institutions gives another
  • any other details that appear in the instruction.

IFTI under a designated remittance arrangement (IFTI-DRA)

An IFTI-DRA is an instruction to transfer money or property to or from another country under a designated remittance arrangement (DRA). It applies when at least one of the following entities is not a financial institution:

  • the entity accepting the instruction from the customer
  • the entity making the money or property available.

Information required in IFTI-DRA reports

This section refers to Chapter 17 of the AML/CTF Rules 2007 as in immediately before 31 March 2026.

Reports about IFTI-DRAs must include details about everyone involved in the transfer:

  • the transferor – who instructs the transfer of the money or property
  • the sender – who accepts instructions from the transferor to transmit the money or property
  • the transmitter (if different to the sender) – who transmits the instructions
  • the disbursing entity – who arranges for the money or property to be made available to the transferee
  • the transferee – who ultimately receives the money or property.

You may also need to report:

  • transfer dates
  • the amount and type of currency
  • reference and identification numbers
  • for property transfers – a description and value of the property and details of the currency used in the valuation
  • information about the purpose of the transfer
  • how you identified and verified an individual’s identity.

Examples of IFTI-DRAs

Example 1 – Sending cash overseas through an agent

Ms Amuza wants to send A$5,000 to her brother (Mr Bajaj) in Vietnam. Ms Amuza contacts Hafei Money Transfer, a registered remittance service provider, and instructs them to send A$5,000 to Mr Bajaj in Vietnam.

Hafei sends a text message to its agent in Vietnam, who arranges to have A$5,000 delivered to Mr Bajaj the next business day. Hafei and the agent in Vietnam arrange to reconcile the funds between themselves later.

Hafei must submit an IFTI-DRA report to us within 10 business days of receiving the instruction from Ms Amuza.

Example 2

Mr Praga wants to send A$2,000 to his family in India. He presents Hafei Money Transfer with a cheque for A$2,000 and instructs them to send A$2000 to Ms Dacia.

Hafei contacts its agent in India via email. It deposits the funds into its bank account with Bank Vector in Australia, then transfers A$2,000 from that account to the agent’s bank account in India. The agent arranges to deliver the A$2,000 to Ms Dacia in India.

Hafei must submit an IFTI-DRA report to us within 10 business days of receiving the instruction from Mr Praga.

Affiliates of remittance network providers

If an affiliate of a remittance network provider submits an IFTI-DRA using the provider’s network, the remittance network provider is responsible for lodging the IFTI.

Penalties for not submitting an IFTI report

If you are late in submitting an IFTI report, or don’t submit one when required, you can be fined:

  • up to 100,000 penalty units if you are a body corporate
  • up to 20,000 penalty units if you’re not a body corporate.

Learn more about enforcement and penalties.

Related legislation

These laws continue to apply to IFTI reporting until your IVTS reporting transition date:

This guidance sets out how we interpret certain Australian legislation, 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.

Last updated: 31 Mar 2026

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