If you trade in gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, coloured stones, bullion, or finished jewellery above the threshold, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024 changes the way you do business. Dealers in precious metals and stones are a Tranche 2 sector that AUSTRAC will regulate from 1 July 2026.
The reforms exist because high-value, easily-portable, easily-resold goods have always been a money-laundering favourite. International pressure (FATF) and a string of Australian cases pushed the government to close the gap.
Who is caught
- Wholesalers and retailers of precious metals, bullion, and precious stones
- Jewellery retailers where individual transactions cross the cash-equivalent threshold
- Pawnbrokers handling gold and high-value pieces
- Online and auction-house dealers in the same goods
- Refiners, manufacturing jewellers, and trade-in operators
What an AML/CTF program means for a jeweller
Two written components — Part A (governance, risk assessment, training, oversight) and Part B (customer due diligence on every qualifying transaction).
- ID and beneficial ownership checks on customers above the threshold
- Source-of-funds enquiry where risk indicators are present
- Threshold transaction reports for cash payments of $10,000 or more
- Suspicious matter reports lodged with AUSTRAC within 24 hours
- Seven-year record retention for transaction and ID data
- Annual compliance reporting
What is new vs Tranche 1
Tranche 1 has covered banks, money remitters and casinos since 2006. Tranche 2 extends the same architecture to professions and dealers historically outside the net. For jewellers, the practical change is that every high-value transaction now needs a documented compliance trail — not just an invoice.
What contracts and documents need updating
- Customer service agreements and sale terms — disclosing AML/CTF checks, ID requirements, refusal rights, and data handling
- Trade-in and consignment agreements — verifying the seller’s title and source of goods
- Wholesale supply agreements — flowing AML obligations down the chain
- Privacy collection notices — covering ID document storage
- Staff training and incident-handling procedures (Part A)
The deadlines and penalties
Tranche 2 commences 1 July 2026 with a phased uplift. AUSTRAC enrolment is the first gate. Civil penalties run to $22 million per contravention for corporate offenders; criminal penalties apply for serious breaches like tipping-off.
How an updated Service Agreement helps
Claim Done’s Service Agreement wizard produces a Tranche 2-ready customer or supplier agreement that includes the AML/CTF disclosures, ID and source-of-funds clauses, the right to refuse or delay a transaction where checks fail, and the record-keeping language AUSTRAC will look for. Flat $79 — DOCX and PDF, ready to deploy across your store.
Next step
Audit your transaction thresholds, enrol with AUSTRAC, and re-paper customer-facing documents now so the compliance lift is incremental rather than emergency.