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Deadline: 29 July 2026 — enforcement now active

AUSTRAC enrolment for Trust and company service providerss — 2026 AUSTRAC Guide

If your business provides designated trust and company services from 1 July 2026, you must enrol with AUSTRAC. This applies because trust and company service providers are newly brought into the federal AML/CTF regime where they help set up, manage or support structures that can be misused to hide ownership or move illicit funds. If you miss enrolment, you will be in breach of the Act, and civil penalties can reach $33.5 million per contravention, with criminal penalties for intentional contraventions.

Your AML/CTF obligations

  1. 1. AUSTRAC enrolment
  2. 2. Compliance officer
  3. 3. ML/TF risk assessment
  4. 4. AML/CTF program
  5. 5. Customer due diligence
  6. 6. Sanctions screening
  7. 7. Suspicious matter reporting
  8. 8. Record keeping (7 years)
  9. 9. Staff training

AUSTRAC enrolment is the first legal step for a trust and company service provider that is a reporting entity. It is not a licence and it is not approval from AUSTRAC to operate. It is a mandatory notification to AUSTRAC that your business provides a designated service. For this sector, the key issue is whether the service you provide is actually a designated service under the Act, not whether you describe yourself as a corporate services firm, family office support business, accounting practice or legal-adjacent provider.

Deadline you cannot miss

If you are already operating and will provide a designated service from 1 July 2026, enrol with AUSTRAC by 29 July 2026 using AUSTRAC Online at austrac.gov.au. If your business starts providing a designated service after 1 July 2026, you must enrol within 28 days of first providing that service. Enrolment is free.

What a trust and company service provider should do now

  • Work out which of your services are designated services, such as acting in roles connected with company or trust structures, arranging entities, or providing corporate or trustee-related services that fall within the Act.
  • Identify the legal entity that is providing the designated service — for example, your company, partnership or sole trader business — because that entity must enrol.
  • Gather the details AUSTRAC requires for enrolment: business structure, contact details, key personnel, and the designated services your business provides.
  • Create or confirm access to AUSTRAC Online and complete the enrolment form as soon as possible after 1 July 2026, rather than waiting until late July.
  • Put a process in place to update AUSTRAC within 14 days if your enrolment details change, such as a change in directors, trading name, contact person or business address.

The most common mistake in this sector is assuming enrolment only applies to businesses that call themselves a 'trust and company service provider'. AUSTRAC regulates designated services, not job titles. Another common error is thinking enrolment can wait until your AML/CTF program is finished. It cannot. Enrolment comes first, and your AML/CTF program must be finalised by 31 December 2026. Some firms also miss the point that a separate business entity may need its own enrolment if it is the one contracting with clients and providing the designated service.

For small corporate secretarial and trustee services businesses, the practical approach is to map your services client by client. If you help establish companies, arrange nominee or trustee structures, provide registered office or business address services as part of a broader designated service, or otherwise support legal entities in a way captured by the Act, check that activity carefully. Keep a dated internal note of why you concluded a service is or is not designated, who made that decision, and which entity in your group enrolled. That will make later compliance work much easier and help avoid gaps if you operate across several brands or related entities.

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need to enrol if I only provide company secretary and registered office services?
Maybe, but the answer depends on whether those services are designated services under the Act and how they are provided in practice. AUSTRAC regulates the service, not the label you use. If those activities form part of captured trust and company services, the entity providing them must enrol.
Our accounting practice has a separate corporate services company. Which entity enrols?
The legal entity that provides the designated service must enrol as the reporting entity. If your corporate services company contracts with clients and delivers the trust or company service, that company should enrol. If more than one entity in your group provides designated services, each relevant entity may need its own enrolment.
What if we do not start offering designated services until September 2026?
You do not use the 29 July 2026 date if you were not yet providing a designated service. Instead, you must enrol within 28 days of first providing the designated service. Do it immediately after the service starts so you are not calculating the deadline too tightly.
Does AUSTRAC charge a fee to enrol?
No. Enrolment with AUSTRAC is free and is completed through AUSTRAC Online. The cost to your business is the time needed to work out whether your services are designated and to prepare accurate enrolment details.
If I am unsure whether a service is designated, should I wait until I get advice before enrolling?
Do not ignore the issue or assume you are outside the regime. Review your service lines urgently and get independent advice if you are genuinely uncertain, because the deadline is hard and enrolment is required if you provide a designated service. AUSTRAC also says businesses can use its 'check if you'll be regulated' tool to help assess this.

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