AUSTRAC Reporting Requirements: TTR, SMR & IFTI Guide
Reporting entities have mandatory obligations to lodge financial reports with AUSTRAC. Missing or late reports can result in significant penalties. This guide explains exactly what you must report, when, and how.
Threshold Transaction Report for cash transactions at or above $10,000 AUD
Suspicious Matter Report when terrorism financing suspected
International Funds Transfer Instructions for cross-border transfers
What is AUSTRAC and its role?
AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) is Australia's financial intelligence unit (FIU) and the country's primary AML/CTF regulator. Established under the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 and now primarily governed by the AML/CTF Act 2006, AUSTRAC has a dual mandate: collecting and analysing financial intelligence to combat serious and organised crime, and regulating reporting entities to ensure they meet their AML/CTF obligations.
AUSTRAC receives tens of millions of transaction reports each year from thousands of reporting entities. This data is analysed by AUSTRAC's intelligence analysts and shared with partner agencies including the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Border Force (ABF), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), the ATO, ASIO, and state and territory law enforcement.
As a regulator, AUSTRAC has broad enforcement powers including the ability to issue civil penalty orders, seek injunctions, enter enforceable undertakings, and refer matters for criminal prosecution. It also conducts compliance assessments and audits of reporting entities.
AUSTRAC reporting obligations
Under the AML/CTF Act, reporting entities must file three types of transaction reports with AUSTRAC:
Threshold Transaction Reports (TTRs)
A Threshold Transaction Report (TTR) must be lodged when a reporting entity provides a designated service that involves the transfer of physical currency (cash) at or above $10,000 AUD, or the foreign currency equivalent. The obligation applies whether the cash is received from, or paid to, a customer.
When must a TTR be filed?
Filing deadline
TTRs must be lodged with AUSTRAC within 10 business days after the day the transaction occurs. There is no discretion — if the transaction meets the threshold, the report is mandatory.
Structuring — a serious offence
“Structuring” — deliberately breaking up transactions to avoid the $10,000 reporting threshold — is a criminal offence under the AML/CTF Act. This applies both to customers who structure transactions and to reporting entities that allow or facilitate structuring. If you detect structuring, you must file a Suspicious Matter Report.
What information must a TTR include?
Suspicious Matter Reports (SMRs)
A Suspicious Matter Report (SMR) is the most important report a reporting entity can lodge. You must file an SMR when you suspect on reasonable grounds that a customer, transaction, or matter is related to money laundering, terrorism financing, evasion of a taxation law, or any other serious crime. There is no minimum dollar threshold — the obligation is based on suspicion, not transaction value.
Critically, you must lodge an SMR even if you do not proceed with the transaction. If you form a suspicion and then refuse to provide the service, you are still required to report. The obligation is also subject to a “tipping off” prohibition — you must not disclose to the customer or any other person that you have filed or are considering filing an SMR.
24-hour deadline
Where your suspicion relates to terrorism financing, you must lodge the SMR within 24 hours of forming the suspicion. This deadline cannot be extended.
3-day deadline
For all other suspicious matters (money laundering, tax evasion, serious crime), you must lodge the SMR within 3 business days of forming the suspicion.
Common indicators of suspicious activity
The following are indicators that may give rise to a suspicion. None of these alone necessarily constitutes grounds for an SMR — you must assess them in context against your knowledge of the customer.
Tipping off prohibition
It is a criminal offence to disclose to a customer, or any third party, that you have filed, are considering filing, or have been requested to file an SMR. This prohibition applies even to other employees who are not involved in AML compliance. An exception exists for disclosures to AUSTRAC, regulators, legal advisors, and related bodies within a corporate group.
What happens after you file an SMR?
AUSTRAC analyses SMR data alongside other financial intelligence to identify patterns of criminal activity. Your report may contribute to a broader law enforcement investigation. You will generally not be informed of the outcome. The decision whether to continue providing services to a customer after filing an SMR is a business decision — you are not legally required to terminate the relationship unless directed to do so by law enforcement.
International Funds Transfer Instructions (IFTIs)
An International Funds Transfer Instruction (IFTI) is an instruction to transfer money or property into or out of Australia. Financial institutions, remittance dealers, and other entities that send or receive international funds transfers must report every IFTI to AUSTRAC — there is no minimum threshold.
IFTIs apply to a wide range of cross-border payment types including SWIFT transfers, correspondent banking transfers, remittance transfers, and international electronic funds transfers. Entities that act as an intermediary in an international transfer chain may also have IFTI reporting obligations.
Who must report IFTIs?
Information required in an IFTI
IFTI filing deadline
IFTIs must be lodged with AUSTRAC within 10 business days after the day the transfer instruction is received or sent. For entities processing high volumes of international transfers, batch reporting is available through the AUSTRAC Online portal or via the AUSTRAC API.
Reporting deadlines and penalties
Failure to lodge reports on time, or at all, is a serious contravention of the AML/CTF Act. Penalties are calculated per contravention — so a reporting entity that fails to file 100 TTRs faces up to 100 separate penalty units.
| Report type | Deadline | Max penalty (company) |
|---|---|---|
| TTR | 10 business days | $22.2M per contravention* |
| SMR (terrorism financing) | 24 hours | $22.2M per contravention* |
| SMR (other suspicious matters) | 3 business days | $22.2M per contravention* |
| IFTI | 10 business days | $22.2M per contravention* |
* Maximum civil penalty for body corporates. Penalties are based on the penalty unit rate at the time of the contravention and may change. Actual penalties vary depending on the nature and seriousness of the breach.
AUSTRAC annual reporting obligation
In addition to transaction-specific reports, all reporting entities must submit an Annual Compliance Report to AUSTRAC. This report confirms that your AML/CTF program is in place and has been reviewed during the year. The annual report is due by 31 March each year for the preceding calendar year. Failure to lodge is also a contravention of the Act.
How IntelliCompli automates AUSTRAC reporting
Manual AUSTRAC reporting is error-prone, time-consuming, and difficult to scale. IntelliCompli integrates with your transaction data to generate reports automatically, track deadlines, and maintain the audit trail AUSTRAC expects.
Automated TTR detection
Transactions exceeding $10,000 are automatically flagged, pre-populated with customer data, and queued for same-day lodgement to AUSTRAC.
SMR workflow management
Alert-driven SMR workflows with 24-hour and 3-day countdowns, evidence capture, supervisor approval, and automatic AUSTRAC submission.
Batch IFTI reporting
High-volume international transfer reporting via automated batch processing. Supports SWIFT data extraction and AUSTRAC API integration.
Annual compliance report
Guided annual report builder with pre-populated data from your program, training records, and reporting history. Helps you stay on track for the 31 March deadline.
Deadline tracking
Dashboard view of all pending reports with countdown timers, escalation alerts, and team notifications for approaching deadlines.
Complete audit trail
Every report lodged is timestamped, attributed to a user, and stored for 7 years with supporting evidence and investigation notes.
Related guides
Disclaimer: This content is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional compliance advice. While we endeavour to keep this information accurate and up to date, legislation and regulatory guidance change frequently. You should seek independent legal or compliance advice specific to your circumstances before acting on any information in this guide. See our Privacy Policy for how we handle your data.
Streamline your AUSTRAC reporting
IntelliCompli helps you stay on top of TTR, SMR, and IFTI deadlines. Automatically generate reports from your transaction data, track deadlines, and maintain the audit trail AUSTRAC requires.