From 1 July 2026, Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) laws will be expanded to include legal firms, accountants, conveyancers, and trust and company service providers, including SUPERCentral and our associated legal firm, Townsends Lawyers.
Key Changes at a Glance
- Effective date: 1 July 2026
- Who is affected: Adviser firms ordering designated services from SUPERCentral and Townsends Lawyers
- What is changing: We will be required to complete Customer Due Diligence (CDD), including identity verification, before providing certain designated services.
- Your options: Eligible firms can use our Reliance Partner Program, or we can complete the CDD process directly with your client.
What this means for you
From 1 July 2026, we may be required to obtain and verify your client's identity before we can provide certain designated services.
Designated services include, but are not limited to:
- SMSF and company establishments
- Pension documentation
- Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA) services
- Trust establishment and related services
Where a client is acting on behalf of, or through, a company, trust or other legal structure, we may also be required to identify and verify the individuals who ultimately own or control that entity.
Ordering designated services
Designated services will be clearly identified on our website. Some services may also incur additional disbursements, which we will advise you of before proceeding.
These requirements extend the customer identity verification obligations that already apply to banks and other financial institutions and will now apply to designated services provided by organisations such as SUPERCentral.
Customer Due Diligence (CDD)
From 1 July 2026, all requests for designated services submitted to SUPERCentral or Townsends Lawyers will require a Customer Due Diligence (CDD) process.
We appreciate that these new requirements may create additional administrative steps for both advisers and clients. To make the process as simple and efficient as possible, we offer two service options.
Option 1 – Reliance Partner Program
If your firm has already completed customer identification and verification in accordance with its own AML/CTF program, we may be able to rely on those checks rather than repeating them.
This allows you to continue ordering services in the usual way, reducing both time and cost.
If your firm is a current SUPERCentral member, we will contact you shortly to discuss participation in our Reliance Partner Program and provide details of the Reliance Agreement and associated AML/CTF requirements.
Option 2 – CDD Verification
Alternatively, SUPERCentral can manage the CDD process on your behalf.
Simply select this option when ordering a designated service online and your client will receive an invitation to complete their identity verification through our verification provider, Legl.
Service delivery timeframes
Please note that delivery timeframes for designated services may be extended while the required CDD checks are completed.
Privacy and confidentiality
We will only collect the information necessary to meet our legal obligations.
Protecting your privacy and your clients' confidentiality is important to us. Any personal information we collect will be handled securely and managed in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
Terms and Conditions
We have updated our Terms and Conditions to reflect our obligations under the new AML/CTF regime.
Each time you instruct us through our website, you agree to these Terms and Conditions. We encourage you to review the updated wording before placing future orders.
We're here to help
The introduction of the expanded AML/CTF regime represents a significant change for many professional service providers. We appreciate your support as these new requirements are implemented and will continue to refine our processes as further guidance is released by AUSTRAC.
If you have any questions, please contact us on (02) 8296 6266 or email info@supercentral.com.au.
For more information about the AML/CTF legislative changes, please visit the AUSTRAC website.