Are property management, leasing and rental transactions captured?
No, pure residential property management and standard leasing fall outside the regime; the Act excludes leases of 30 years or less.
The Act defines "real estate" to cover ownership-style interests in land, and explicitly excludes leases of 30 years or less, which means standard residential and most commercial tenancies aren't captured. Rent collection, bond handling, repairs coordination, lease renewals, tenant placement and routine landlord-tenant administration are all outside scope. The designated services in Table 5 only apply to the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate - not its ongoing management.
Edge cases that ARE captured:
- Long-term leases over 30 years - including 99-year leases, crown/pastoral leases, residential site agreements, and long-term commercial ground leases. AUSTRAC treats these as real estate transactions because they create an ownership-style interest.
What this doesn't exempt is the rest of a typical agency's work. If you run a mixed practice that handles both property management and sales (which most do), the sales side is fully captured - you're a reporting entity, you need to enrol, and you need an AML/CTF program covering your sales designated services. The exemption only protects pure property management businesses that never broker, sell or transfer real estate.
See the AML Act Property Management Exemption guidance.