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Do conveyancer privacy and AML obligations differ by state?

Mostly no. Conveyancing has been a designated service under the AML/CTF Act since 31 March 2026, with the obligations commencing 1 July 2026, and both are Commonwealth law: they apply the same in NSW, Victoria, SA, WA, Tasmania and the NT. What differs is the professional title (a "licensed conveyancer," an SA "registered conveyancer," a WA "settlement agent," an NT "conveyancing agent"), which body licenses you, and how long your state makes you keep records.

By Jon Oates, Founder of Privaproof · Last updated 9 September 2026

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General information, not legal advice. Your obligations depend on your circumstances.

Is the obligation the same in every state?

It's a natural assumption that rules like these vary state to state, the way conveyancing licensing does. Here they don't. Both changes are Commonwealth law, and they carry two different commencement dates:

• The AML/CTF capture comes from a federal designated service: AML/CTF Act s 6(5B), table 6 item 1, "assisting a person ... to sell, buy or otherwise transfer real estate" in the course of a business. It commenced 31 March 2026; the obligations commenced 1 July 2026. Item 1 does not reach a transfer resulting from an order of a court or tribunal.
• The Privacy Act consequence comes from s 6E(1A) of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth): if a small business operator becomes a reporting entity, the Act applies "in relation to the activities carried on ... for the purposes of, or in connection with, activities relating to" the AML/CTF Act. It is scoped to those activities, not to the identity documents alone.

Because both are national, the substance of what you must do (enrol with AUSTRAC, run customer due diligence, keep records, have an APP 1 privacy policy and APP 5 collection notices) is the same in every state and territory.

What actually differs by state?

Two things vary, and neither changes the federal obligation:

• The professional label. In NSW, Victoria and Tasmania the work is done by licensed conveyancers; in South Australia by registered conveyancers (Conveyancers Act 1994 (SA) Pt 2); in Western Australia by licensed settlement agents; in the Northern Territory by licensed conveyancing agents. Because the AML designated service is defined by the activity, the capture is the same regardless of the title on your door.
• Your state licensing regulator. Each jurisdiction licenses and supervises the profession under its own legislation: for example, WA settlement agents under the Settlement Agents Act 1981 (WA), administered by Consumer Protection, and NT conveyancing agents through the NT Agents Licensing Board. Those state trust-account, insurance and conduct rules continue exactly as before; the federal AML and privacy obligations sit on top of them, not instead of them.

Why does this matter for how you read the guidance?

Published guidance tends to say "conveyancer." If your licence says settlement agent, conveyancing agent or registered conveyancer, it is easy to assume it isn't about you. It is: the designated service is defined by the activity, not by the word on your licence. The question worth asking is not what you are called, but whether you assist a client to buy, sell or transfer real estate. (WA settlement agents can start with Do WA settlement agents need a privacy policy and AUSTRAC enrolment in 2026?.)

The one genuinely state-flavoured area is retention, and the trap is the start date, not the number. NSW: at least 7 years after the record is made (Conveyancers Licensing Regulation 2021 (NSW) s 32(1)). WA: not less than 6 years from the date the money was received (Settlement Agents Regulations 1982 (WA) r 6F(1)(b)). Federally, AML/CTF Act s 107(3) runs 7 years from the day the record is made, s 108(2) from when the client gave you the document, s 111(2) from when the relationship ends. Does your schedule give each of those a start date, or only a number of years? Everything else (the privacy policy, collection notices, breach response) is uniform.

Where to go next

The federal detail is the same wherever you are: how the trigger works (Does becoming an AUSTRAC reporting entity trigger the Privacy Act?), the documents you need (Do conveyancers need a privacy policy in 2026? and Privacy policy vs collection notice), and the AML side overall (AML Tranche 2 for conveyancers).

Common questions

Are the AML rules different in NSW vs Victoria vs WA?

No. AML/CTF is a Commonwealth regime, so the obligation is the same in every state and territory. What differs is the professional title, your state licensing regulator, and the statutory retention period and the date its clock starts.

I practise in more than one state, do I need two sets of documents?

Your Privacy Act and AML/CTF obligations are Commonwealth law and do not change at the border, so one privacy policy, one collection notice and one breach response plan serve both. What changes is the retention period and the date its clock starts, so the retention schedule is the document that has to name both jurisdictions.

Does my state licence already deal with privacy?

Not by itself. Your state licensing Act deals with registration, trust accounts, insurance and conduct. The Privacy Act obligation is separate Commonwealth law. If your practice has had an annual turnover of more than A$3m for a financial year that has ended, s 6D(4)(a) puts you outside the small-business exemption already, and a later fall in turnover does not undo it. If you are a small business operator, s 6E(1A) brings you in for your AML/CTF activities once you are a reporting entity. Those are two of the routes in, not the only ones.

Is anything actually state-specific?

Mainly retention. NSW runs 7 years from when the record was made; WA runs 6 years from the date the money was received. Both sit alongside the AML/CTF Act's own three 7-year periods and APP 11.2, which requires destruction once the information is no longer needed. Your retention schedule is where state and federal rules meet.

This is general information, not legal advice. Privaproof provides privacy tools and general information; it is not a law practice and does not provide legal advice, and it does not assess your AML/CTF obligations, which are administered by AUSTRAC. Sources: AUSTRAC, professional designated services; Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) s 6E(1A); AML/CTF Act 2006 (Cth) s 6(5B), table 6, and Part 10; OAIC, privacy guidance for reporting entities under the AML/CTF Act; Consumer Protection WA, settlement agents and conveyancers.