AUSTRAC Tranche 2 for Dealers in Precious Metals & Stones (2026)
From 1 July 2026, Australia's long-awaited "Tranche 2" reforms bring dealers in precious metals and precious stones squarely into the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime. If you buy or sell gold and silver bullion, cut or uncut diamonds and coloured stones, high-value jewellery, or investment coins, you are now a reporting entity with the same core obligations as a bank — enrolment, an AML/CTF program, customer due diligence, and mandatory transaction reporting. This guide explains what changes, why your sector is treated as high-risk, and the practical steps to be ready.
The short version
- From 1 July 2026, dealers in precious metals and stones are captured by the AML/CTF Act as "Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions" (DNFBPs).
- A cash transaction of AUD 10,000 or more (or foreign-currency equivalent) triggers a Threshold Transaction Report (TTR), lodged within 10 business days.
- A Suspicious Matter Report (SMR) is due within 3 business days of forming a suspicion — 24 hours if it relates to terrorism financing.
- AUSTRAC is releasing new TTR and SMR forms on 1 July 2026 with expanded reportable details; when you must use them depends on your enrolment date.
- Strong KYC at the point of sale is the foundation of every accurate report.
A note on sources. This information is current as of July 2026 and draws on AUSTRAC publications, including its guidance on the changes to transaction reporting from 1 July 2026 and its threshold-transaction-report and suspicious-matter-report pages. If you spot anything that needs correcting, let us know.
Why precious-metals and stones dealers are in scope
Tranche 2 is the part of the reforms that amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to cover professions long recognised internationally as money-laundering risks. Alongside lawyers, accountants, conveyancers, real estate professionals, and trust and company service providers, the regime now captures dealers in precious metals and precious stones for their specified designated services.
The sector's risk profile is easy to understand. Bullion and gemstones are high-value, portable, and hold their value across borders. Transactions are frequently settled in cash. A diamond worth six figures fits in a pocket; a kilo of gold is an anonymous store of value. That combination — liquidity, portability, and a culture of cash — is exactly what makes the sector attractive for laundering proceeds of crime, which is why AUSTRAC now expects dealers to know their customers and report the transactions that matter.
The AUD 10,000 threshold: when a cash sale becomes a TTR
The single most important trigger to internalise is the Threshold Transaction Report. You must lodge a TTR whenever you are party to a cash transaction of AUD 10,000 or more, including the foreign-currency equivalent. This applies whether the customer is buying bullion from you or you are buying scrap gold, coins, or stones from them — a cash payment is a cash payment in either direction.
"Cash" here means physical currency. It does not capture electronic funds transfers, card payments, or cheques in the same way — but be alert to structuring, where a customer deliberately breaks a large purchase into several sub-$10,000 cash payments to stay under the line. Deliberate structuring is itself a red flag that may require an SMR, even though no single transaction hits the threshold.
Once a reportable cash transaction occurs, you have 10 business days to lodge the TTR through AUSTRAC Online. Reports must be accurate and complete, which means the underlying customer information has to be captured correctly at the time of sale — you cannot reconstruct a verified identity after the fact.
| Threshold Transaction Report (TTR) | Suspicious Matter Report (SMR) | |
|---|---|---|
| Triggered by | A cash transaction of AUD 10,000+ (or FX equivalent) | Forming a reasonable suspicion about a customer or transaction |
| Deadline | Within 10 business days | Within 3 business days (24 hours for terrorism financing) |
| Basis | Objective — the dollar amount | Subjective — your reasonable grounds for suspicion |
| Applies even below $10,000? | No | Yes — value is irrelevant to an SMR |
Suspicious Matter Reports: when suspicion, not size, is the trigger
A TTR is about a number; an SMR is about a judgement. You must lodge a Suspicious Matter Report whenever you form a reasonable suspicion that a transaction or customer may be linked to money laundering, terrorism financing, proceeds of crime, or other serious offences — regardless of the dollar value. A $2,000 purchase can require an SMR; a $50,000 one may not.
The deadline is tighter than for TTRs: 3 business days from when you form the suspicion, and just 24 hours if the matter relates to terrorism financing.
Typical red flags for the sector include a customer who is evasive about the source of funds, who wants to pay entirely in cash for an unusually large purchase, who structures payments to dodge the $10,000 threshold, who is reluctant to provide identification, who buys high-value items with no apparent interest in quality or price, or who resells to you at a suspicious pace. Staff on the counter are your first line of defence, which is why documented procedures and training matter.
New TTR and SMR forms from 1 July 2026
On 1 July 2026, AUSTRAC releases new TTR and SMR forms. The updated AML/CTF Rules expand the reportable details required in both, with the goal of improving data quality and delivering a more streamlined AUSTRAC Online experience. In practice, that means more fields to populate — and a stronger reason to capture clean, verified customer data at the point of sale rather than scrambling for it later.
For the exact list of new fields, refer to AUSTRAC directly at austrac.gov.au, as the field-level detail is set out in its official guidance.
When you must move to the new forms depends on your enrolment date:
| Your situation | Which forms apply |
|---|---|
| Enrolled with AUSTRAC on or before 30 March 2026 | You may transition to the new forms any time between 1 July 2026 and 30 March 2029 |
| Enrol after 30 March 2026 | You must use the new forms from 1 July 2026 |
Because most dealers are only now entering the regime, many will fall into the second row and should build their processes around the new forms from day one.
Building a compliant program: KYC at the point of sale
Enrolment and reporting sit on top of a broader set of obligations. At a minimum, a dealer entering the regime should expect to:
- Enrol with AUSTRAC as a reporting entity.
- Develop and maintain an AML/CTF program — your documented risk assessment, policies, procedures, and controls.
- Conduct customer due diligence (KYC) — verify who your customer is before providing a designated service, and apply enhanced checks for higher-risk customers.
- Screen against sanctions and politically exposed person (PEP) lists where relevant.
- Report TTRs and SMRs within the deadlines above, and keep records.
The practical heart of all this is identity verification at the counter. Every accurate TTR needs a correctly identified party; every defensible SMR rests on knowing who you were dealing with. For a walk-in cash buyer, that means collecting and verifying government-issued ID quickly, without turning a sale into an interrogation. For business customers — a trade buyer, a company, or a trust — it means verifying the entity and its beneficial owners (KYB).
Where Didit helps: Didit provides KYC identity verification, KYB business verification, sanctions and PEP screening, and transaction monitoring through one API, with public per-check pricing and 500 free verifications a month. A counter assistant can verify a buyer's ID document and confirm a live match in under a minute, and business buyers can be checked against registries and beneficial-ownership data — so the identity details behind every TTR and SMR are captured cleanly and consistently.
To be clear about scope: Didit does not lodge TTRs or SMRs for you, and using it does not by itself discharge your AUSTRAC obligations. What it does is help you collect and verify the identity data and detect the activity that underpins accurate reporting — turning the manual, error-prone parts of onboarding and monitoring into a repeatable digital step.
What to do before 1 July 2026
- Confirm your status. Determine which of your services are designated services under the reforms and whether you must enrol.
- Enrol on time. Remember the 30 March 2026 date decides whether the transition window or the new forms apply to you.
- Write your AML/CTF program. Document your risk assessment and the procedures your staff will actually follow.
- Set up point-of-sale KYC. Choose an identity-verification workflow that works for walk-in cash buyers and business customers alike.
- Train your counter staff to recognise red flags and know the TTR and SMR triggers and deadlines.
- Confirm the detail with AUSTRAC. Field lists and edge cases live on austrac.gov.au.
Getting the identity layer right now is the single highest-leverage move: it makes reporting accurate, audits painless, and suspicious activity easier to spot.
To build KYC, KYB, AML sanctions/PEP screening, and transaction monitoring into your point of sale, explore Didit — one API, public per-check pricing, and 500 free verifications every month.
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Every reporting entity should confirm its specific obligations directly with AUSTRAC or a qualified adviser.
