In this article
Kooky
Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.
About Kooky and Shaka →From Wednesday 1 July 2026, a real estate agent anywhere in Australia must identify the people it acts for and verify that identity, under the federal anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime that now covers the property industry. The Real Estate Institute of Australia confirmed the start in a media release on 29 June, and its chief executive, Scott Rollason, put the duty in one line: agents are "required to take reasonable steps to identify and verify the identity of their customers."
For a Queensland home owner about to sell, the change is small in effort and firm in effect. The agent will ask for identity documents at the start of the relationship, may ask a few questions about the sale, and has to keep a record. The trade publication Elite Agent summed up the industry's reading in a headline on 30 June: no ID means no sale.
Real Estate Institute of Australia, 29 June 2026; AUSTRAC media release, 31 March 2025; REIQ member guidance.
What changed on 1 July
Australia has had anti-money laundering law since 2006, but until now it applied mainly to banks, remitters, casinos and similar businesses. The reform that takes effect today extends it to what the law calls the second tranche of professions: real estate professionals, lawyers, conveyancers, accountants and dealers in precious metals and stones. AUSTRAC, the federal financial intelligence agency that supervises the regime, said in a release on 31 March 2025 that the number of regulated businesses would grow from about 19,000 to about 100,000, roughly five times as many.
AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas described the purpose then as "closing long-standing gaps", and the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, said the reforms bring Australia into line with international standards.
Related readSmoke alarm rules a Queensland seller must meet before settlementIn real estate the regulated activity is brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of property on behalf of a buyer or seller, according to a summary of the law published by the Brisbane firm Cooper Grace Ward in November 2025. A developer that sells its own stock directly, without an independent agent, is covered as well. From today, a business doing that work has four standing duties listed by AUSTRAC: an anti-money laundering program, customer due diligence, reporting of suspicious matters, and record keeping.
What a seller will be asked for
Customer due diligence is the part an owner sees. The REIA release says customers may be asked for government-issued identification, verification of their personal details, supporting documents where needed, and information about the source of funds or the nature of the transaction.
Elite Agent's report on 30 June is more specific about the documents. It lists a physical driver licence, a passport or a digital driver licence showing the person's full name, residential address and date of birth. Where a business is involved, the agent may ask for the business name, its operating addresses and its Australian Business Number.
| Request | What it covers | Reported by |
|---|---|---|
| Photo identification | Driver licence, digital licence or passport showing name, address and date of birth | Elite Agent |
| Who really owns it | For a company or trust, the people who own or control it | REIWA |
| Screening | Whether the person is politically exposed or on a sanctions list | REIWA |
| The reason for the sale | The nature and purpose of the transaction, and source of funds where relevant | REIA |
REIA media release, 29 June 2026; Elite Agent, 30 June 2026; REIWA, 1 July 2026.
The questions about money are aimed mostly at the buying side, where the funds come from. Elite Agent describes them as direct questions about how funds were obtained, whether from salary, savings, investments, gifts or the sale of assets. A seller is more likely to be asked the simpler question of why the property is being sold and, where the owner is a company or a family trust, who stands behind it.
Related readVendor discounts hit a three-year high and valuers warn of unsold homesWhen the check happens
The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, in guidance for consumers published today, sets out the order agents in that State will follow under the same federal law. A seller is checked when listing the property, and REIWA says a property cannot be advertised until the check is complete. A buyer is checked once an offer has been accepted, and in some situations the agent may rely on due diligence already carried out by the buyer's settlement agent.
That timing has a practical consequence for a seller in a hurry. The identity step now sits before the photographs, the signboard and the online listing. An owner who is overseas, a seller acting under a power of attorney, executors selling for an estate and trustees all have more to assemble than a couple selling the family home, and the campaign cannot open until it is done.
Auctions get a specific allowance on the buying side. The Cooper Grace Ward summary notes that a check may be delayed where the short time between the fall of the hammer and the signing of the contract is not enough to complete it.
- Before the listingThe agent identifies the seller and verifies the documents. Advertising waits until this is complete, on REIWA's reading.
- When an offer is acceptedThe agent identifies the buyer, or relies on a check done by the buyer's own representative.
- After the saleThe agency keeps its records and reports anything suspicious to AUSTRAC.
Queensland already had a rule of its own
Identity is not a new idea in Queensland selling. The Office of Fair Trading's guidance for property agents says that before listing or auctioning a property an agent must take reasonable steps to check its true ownership, in the regulator's words that the vendor is who they claim to be. That page was updated on 1 July 2026.
The State rule exists for a different reason. It is aimed at title fraud, where someone impersonates an owner, often of a vacant block or a rental held by a person living elsewhere, and tries to sell the property. The Office of Fair Trading lists the warning signs agents are asked to watch for: address or other personal details that change only when the sale instructions arrive, overseas involvement or foreign documents, requests to send money to an unfamiliar bank account, artificial urgency, and newly created addresses with free email providers.
Related readWhat it costs to sell a home in Queensland: the seller's ledgerThe two regimes now overlap. The State rule asks whether the person giving instructions really owns the home. The federal rule asks who the customer is, who stands behind any company or trust, and whether the transaction raises concern about the proceeds of crime. A seller answers both with much the same documents, and an agent who was already careful about ownership has less to change than one who was not.
What agencies had to do first
The paperwork a seller sees is the visible end of a larger program. The Real Estate Institute of Queensland ran a roadshow in twelve locations across the State in February and March to prepare its members. Chief executive Antonia Mercorella listed the requirements in the institute's release of 16 February: a formal program and policies, staff training, a named compliance officer, documented risk assessments, customer due diligence, monitoring of transactions and reporting of suspicious activity.
Enrolment with AUSTRAC opened on 31 March 2026 and closes on 29 July 2026, 28 days after the start date, according to REIQ guidance to members. Elite Agent reports that agencies not enrolled by then face fines of up to $18,000 a day. Records are to be kept for seven years, Ray White's group agency compliance manager, Shaun Doyle, told the same publication when the timetable was confirmed in August 2025.
Mr Rollason said in the REIA release that engagement from real estate professionals had been strong and that enrolment levels with AUSTRAC were significant. The release gives no number.
The identity step now comes before the marketing
An agent has to verify a seller before acting. Owners selling through a company, a trust, an estate or a power of attorney have more documents to gather, and it is worth allowing for that before a campaign date is fixed.
What sellers should expect in the first weeks
A new duty applied by tens of thousands of businesses on the same day will not be applied identically. Some agencies will verify documents in person, others through an online service; some will ask every question on their form of every client. The underlying law is the same, and it is federal, so a seller in Cairns and a seller in Coolangatta are under the same regime.
It helps to know what the request is not. It is not a credit check and not a judgment about the client. Agents are asked to verify every customer, and Mr Rollason's explanation of why was plain: "Money laundering is not a victimless crime."
A seller will meet the same questions more than once. Conveyancers and solicitors are in the same tranche, with their own obligations from the same date, so the lawyer handling the sale will run a check as well. Banks have done so for years. There is no single shared check yet that satisfies everyone in a transaction, although the law allows one regulated business to rely on another's work in some circumstances, as REIWA's guidance on buyers shows.
The dates that follow
The next fixed date is 29 July, when the enrolment window for agencies closes. The regulator released its starter kits for the new professions in January 2026, Elite Agent notes, and the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales told its members in March that AUSTRAC's initial focus would be on education, while warning that agencies without a program in place still risk significant fines.
For a Queensland seller the change comes down to a short list: current photo identification ready before the agent is appointed, a question about who owns the property if it is not held in a personal name, and a little time for the check before the first advertisement appears.
Kooky, from Shaka
Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.
