Something changed in real estate on 1 July 2026 and most people outside the Real Estate industry haven’t heard a word about it.

New anti-money laundering laws now apply to every real estate agent in Australia. They are called the Tranche 2 reforms, and I promise that’s the last bit of jargon I will use. What it boils down to is this. If you sell a property anywhere in the Sutherland Shire, or around Australia from now on, your agent has to verify who you are before they can act for you. Same laws the banks have been under for years. Real estate just got added to the list.

I’ve been selling property in the Shire for over 20 years and this is the biggest compliance shift I’ve seen. So let me explain what it actually means for you, without the lawyer speak.

Why is this even a thing?

Property is one of the easiest ways to launder dirty money. Buy a house with cash from who knows where, sell it a couple of years later, and out comes clean money. Banks have had to check for this stuff since 2006. Real estate agents didn’t. Australia was one of the last countries in the developed world where that was still the case, and the government finally closed the gap.

Fair enough, honestly. I don’t want to be the agent who unknowingly helps someone wash money through a house in Caringbah South!

So what happens when you sell?

Not much, if your agent has done their homework.

Before you sign an agency agreement with us, we verify your identity electronically. Takes a few minutes on your phone. Driver’s licence, done. If you’re selling through a family trust, a company or your super fund, we’ll need to ask a couple of extra questions about who’s behind it. That’s it.

We do it right at the start so it never holds anything up later. The last thing you want is a settlement delayed because paperwork that should have been sorted in week one got left to the end.

Buyers will notice a few changes too, mostly around deposits and where money comes from. One decision we made early at Signature: we don’t take cash. Not for deposits, not for rent, not for anything. Everything is EFT. Cash is the single biggest risk under these new laws.

The bit worth paying attention to

Every agency in the country had to get ready for this. Enrol with the regulator, write a proper compliance program, appoint someone responsible, the lot. Some of us started early. Plenty left it to the last minute, and I’d bet money some agencies around the Shire still aren’t across it.

Why should you care? Because you’re about to hand your agent your ID documents. So ask them where that information gets stored. If they um and ah, or the honest answer is some overseas server they’ve never looked into, think about whether you want your licence and your personal details sitting there.

When we set up our system I made sure everything stays on Australian servers. As the person responsible for privacy at our agency, and honestly just as someone who may sell my own property in the future, I wasn’t comfortable with anything less. When I sell, I want to know exactly where my ID ends up. Our clients deserve the same.

The other thing to watch for is any agent who tells you they don’t really need to do the checks, or they’ll sort it out later. There is no later. It’s law now, for everyone. An agent who’s loose with this will be loose with other things too. How they handle your deposit. How they check tenants. How they handle your money generally.

What I’d tell a friend

If you are thinking of selling in Miranda, Caringbah, Cronulla, Gymea or anywhere around here, the ID check is nothing to stress about. Five minutes, done properly, done early.

But do ask your agent two questions before you list. Are you set up for the new AML (Anti Money Laundering) rules, and where does my data get stored? You’ll learn more about that agency from their answer than from any sales pitch.

We’re at 2/617 Port Hacking Road, Lilli Pilli if you’d rather talk it through in person. Happy to explain how it all works over a coffee, no strings.

Melinda Barnes is the Director and Licensee in Charge of Signature Property Agents, an independent agency serving the Sutherland Shire. She’s also a property investor, so every process at Signature gets built the way she’d want it as a client.