The Money laundering in Australia: national risk assessment 2024 is an important contribution to Australia’s efforts to counter money laundering and other serious crime. It brings together insights from across Australia’s law enforcement, intelligence and regulatory agencies, private sector stakeholders and international financial intelligence units (FIUs) to assess risks associated with money laundering. It assesses crimes that generate illicit proceeds, as well as the methods and channels used to launder funds in Australia. It also examines the international and domestic drivers that influence the Australian environment, and considers how Australia mitigates and combats money laundering activity, including where improvements could be made.

The key theme to emerge from this assessment is persistence: persistent exploitation of channels that have historically been used to launder funds (e.g. banks, remitters and casinos); persistent exploitation of high-value assets like luxury watches, vehicles and real estate; and persistent involvement of professional service providers to help establish complex business structures and associated banking arrangements to help individuals launder funds and conceal wealth.

Another theme to emerge from this assessment is the criminal exploitation of legitimate financial channels, assets and services. Core features of Australia’s domestic economy, such as cash, bank accounts, payments technology, business structures and trusts, are also used by money launderers to place, layer and integrate criminal proceeds.

Underpinning many money laundering activities in Australia is opacity, anonymity and a lack of transactional visibility. The use of cash, trusts, identity crime, mule accounts and third-party transactions that obscure identity, beneficial ownership or financial flows continues to be a mainstay of money laundering.

Despite a sustained focus and effort across Australia’s public and private sectors, money laundering remains an intractable issue as it is highly intertwined with all profit-generating crimes. The challenges in disrupting money laundering are not unique to Australia. Many of the money laundering threats and risks highlighted in this assessment are noted by other jurisdictions. While the actors may differ, the issues and challenges are strikingly similar.

Key findings

• Australia remains an attractive destination to store and integrate criminal proceeds because of its stable political system, open and free economy, independent legal system, well-developed financial services sector and strong real estate market.
• Crimes generating the highest value of illicit proceeds that require laundering are assessed to be drug offences (including cultivation, manufacture and trafficking), tax and revenue crimes, as well as defrauding government-funded programs. The illicit drug market is a key driver of money laundering in Australia.
• The increased speed of financial transactions in recent years has made it harder for reporting entities to identify and freeze suspicious transfers before funds leave an account. This is further complicated when individuals open and transact through multiple products across multiple financial institutions.
• Opaque legal structures can be created in Australia and used by criminals to help conceal their identity and illicit activity. These structures can limit or obscure visibility of the ultimate beneficial owners of corporate entities, assets and financial infrastructure. They create a significant money laundering vulnerability for Australian authorities and industry.