Investigation into Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) held a series of interviews on Tuesday, 9 June 2026, as part of an ongoing inquiry into the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill. The primary purpose of this review is to assess the legislation, introduced on Thursday, 12 March 2026, which provides the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) with new powers.
These powers include the ability to restrict or prohibit reporting entities from employing high-risk mechanisms to offer designated services. The amendment also broadens the legal definition of ‘terrorism financing’ to include new offences associated with the financing of state-sponsored terrorism.
Discussion on Cryptocurrency ATMs and BECS Decommissioning
During the afternoon session, the matter of cryptocurrency ATMs was brought to the table. The conversation also touched upon BECS decommissioning and the potential incentive for a transition onto the New Payments Platform (NPP).
According to AUSTRAC, cryptocurrency ATM users are often found to be rural residents, aged over 50, and frequently, either victims of scams or money mules. Victorian Labor Senator Raff Ciccone asked AUSTRAC if they could trace proceeds of crimes or state-sponsored terrorism back to these machines.
Anthony Helmond, National Manager, Law Enforcement at AUSTRAC, confirmed that the agency prevents more than $5,000 at a time from being transacted through these machines. Additionally, machine operators have a record-keeping obligation, though they are not required to report suspicious matters.
Concerns Regarding BECS Decommissioning and Transition to NPP
Ciccone later inquired about the 2030 target end-date being dropped for the BECS decommissioning. He was also interested in understanding how the ‘travel rule’ applies to BECS. AUSTRAC’s travel rule requires financial institutions to collect, verify, and transmit information about the payer and payee with transfers of value.
Labour MP for Bennelong, Jerome Laxale, attempted to understand why this ‘exemption’ exists for BECS and why AUSTRAC is not doing more to encourage payments onto the NPP. Daniel Mossop, National Manager for Policy Rules and Guidance at AUSTRAC, said that AUSTRAC is ‘agnostic’ as to payment rails and the deemed compliance was proposed considering a 2030 retirement date.
International Remittances and Transition to NPP
The conversation then shifted to international remittances. The AUSTRAC team highlighted that as soon as a cent crosses the international border, the information gets reported to AUSTRAC. Laxale expressed concern regarding the removal of the transition date and the lack of a forceful industry driver moving payments onto the NPP.
Laxale questioned why the industry is not adopting the NPP, which offers better and cheaper compliance, more quickly. He was told that some institutions are opting to use both rails. Laxale expressed his confusion at the acceptance of these two systems coexisting and the apparent lack of drive towards using the NPP, despite it being a seemingly superior system.
The AUSTRAC interviewees stated that the agency does not have a stance on the appropriate retirement date of BECS. As previously reported by Banking Day, the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) has called for AUSTRAC to play a more vocal role in the real-time payments discussion, citing this as a ‘material gap’ given the agency’s critical role.
For a more in-depth look at this discussion, click here.
