AUSTRAC Online, step by step
What you have to submit to AUSTRAC, and how to do it
Five things. Two of them only if something happens. Here is each one, when it is due, and a screenshot guide to doing it.
Published
| What you submit | When | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Enrol your business | Within 28 days of the day you start providing a designated service. Firms already operating on 1 July 2026 had until 29 July 2026. | Once |
| Suspicious matter report (SMR) | 3 business days after the day you form the suspicion. 24 hours if it relates to terrorism financing. | Only when you have one |
| Threshold transaction report (TTR) | 10 business days after the day $10,000 or more in physical cash is paid to you or by you. | Only when you have one |
| Annual compliance report | Between 1 July and 30 September each year, about the previous financial year. For a firm enrolling now, the first one is due in 2027. | Every year |
| Update your enrolment details | Within 14 days of a change to your services, structure, contacts, key people or annual earnings. | Only when something changes |
Zero is a normal answer.
If no cash of $10,000 or more has been paid to you or by you, and nothing has given you reasonable grounds for suspicion, the number of SMRs and TTRs you submit is zero. You are not behind.
For SMRs and TTRs the deadline is yours to watch. AUSTRAC does email a reminder when the annual compliance report is due, so keep your contact details current. What it does send: an email confirming your enrolment, a receipt for each report you lodge, downloadable from the reporting dashboard, and occasionally a message asking you to amend or confirm a report. Between those, silence from AUSTRAC is normal.
Do it, one screen at a time
Each guide below shows every click with AUSTRAC's own screenshots to help you follow along.
Create your AUSTRAC Online account and set up the login code
Before you enrol your business. Enrolment has to happen within 28 days of starting to provide a designated service.
Open the guideEnrol your business with AUSTRAC, and keep the details current
Within 28 days of the day you start providing a designated service. Changes to your details: within 14 days.
Open the guideLodge a suspicious matter report (SMR) in AUSTRAC Online
Within 3 business days after the day you formed the suspicion. Within 24 hours if it relates to terrorism financing. Up to 5 business days if you are claiming legal professional privilege over part of it, except for terrorism financing.
Open the guideLodge a threshold transaction report (TTR) in AUSTRAC Online
Within 10 business days after the day the cash transaction took place.
Open the guideLodge your annual AML/CTF compliance report in AUSTRAC Online
Between 1 July and 30 September each year, about the financial year that ended on 30 June. The first report for Tranche 2 firms covers 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 and is lodged in July to September 2027.
Open the guideAfter you lodge: receipts, drafts, fixing a mistake, and who you must not tell
Download the receipt straight after lodging. Answer an AUSTRAC message as soon as you see it.
Open the guide
Frequently asked questions
What do I have to submit to AUSTRAC as a small business?
Five things: enrol your business once; a suspicious matter report only when you form a suspicion; a threshold transaction report only when $10,000 or more in physical cash is paid to you or by you; an annual compliance report each year between 1 July and 30 September; and an update to your enrolment details within 14 days of a change.
What if I have nothing to report to AUSTRAC?
If no transaction has met the $10,000 cash threshold and nothing has given you reasonable grounds for suspicion, you lodge no SMRs and no TTRs. Zero is a normal answer. You still enrol, keep your details current, and lodge the annual compliance report.
Where do I submit reports to AUSTRAC?
In AUSTRAC Online at online.apps.austrac.gov.au. Reports are under Reporting then Make a Report. Enrolment and the annual compliance report are under the Business menu.
Where this comes from
- AUSTRAC, QRG: How to enrol a business
AUSTRAC last updated 27 March 2026
- AUSTRAC, suspicious matter reports
AUSTRAC last updated 9 September 2026
- AUSTRAC, threshold transaction reports
AUSTRAC last updated 16 September 2026
- AUSTRAC, annual compliance reports
AUSTRAC last updated 1 April 2026
- AUSTRAC, QRG: How to update your details
AUSTRAC last updated 27 March 2026
This guide is based on AUSTRAC's publicly available guidance. It does not constitute legal or compliance advice. Consult a licensed compliance professional for complex situations.
Related reading
Practical follow-ups from the AML Mate blog.
In December 2025, AUSTRAC launched civil penalty proceedings against Castra and Princeton for failing to lodge their annual compliance report. Here's exactly what the report is, when it's due, and how Tranche 2 entities can avoid the same fate.
On 21 May 2026 AUSTRAC ordered Bankstown District Sports Club to appoint an external auditor under section 162 of the AML/CTF Act, at the club's own expense. This is a quieter enforcement tool than a Federal Court case, and that is exactly why Tranche 2 firms should pay attention. The audit examines three things, and they are the same three things 80,000 new entities must have working by 1 July 2026.
Legal professional privilege survived the AML/CTF reforms intact. What changed on 1 July 2026 is the paperwork around it: a form that goes in whenever you withhold privileged information from a report or a notice, a five business day SMR window instead of three, and a civil penalty for skipping the form. Here is when privilege actually lets you stay silent, when it does not, and how the form works for a lawyer, and for the accountant whose client repeated what their lawyer said.
Enrolment closed on 29 July 2026. For most Tranche 2 firms the next date AUSTRAC actually puts in your calendar is 1 July 2027, when the first annual compliance report window opens. Everything in between runs on triggers you have to notice yourself, not dates anyone reminds you about. Here is what those triggers are, and what should be in your file by the end of August.
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