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AML/CTFCommonwealthMinimum retention

AML/CTF transaction records

How long should Australian businesses keep aML/CTF transaction records, and when does the clock start?

Keep for7 years
Clock startsThe record is made or the document is given
Applies toAML/CTF reporting entities

General information, not legal advice or permission to destroy a record. Coverage may be incomplete or out of date. Check the official text, other applicable obligations and any investigations, disputes or legal holds before disposal. Get advice for your situation. Terms of use.

Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, AML/CTF reporting entities must keep aML/CTF transaction records for at least 7 years. Clock starts: the record is made or the document is given.

Records of transactions in providing designated services, and documents customers give in relation to them.

2 provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 apply to these records. Each one is set out below.

The terms

s 107(1), (3)Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
7 years
beginning on the day the record is made
s 108(2)Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
7 years
after the giving of the document

Conditions and exceptions Caution

From the provisions:

  • AML/CTF Rules may specify kinds of records to which this section does not apply
  • Applies where a document relating to a designated service is given to the reporting entity by or on behalf of the customer and the reporting entity commences to provide the service

The law

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, s 107(1), (3) · Transaction records to be retainedOfficial text ↗
A person who is or was a reporting entity must retain a record referred to in subsection (1) for a period of 7 years beginning on the day the record is made.
Text as at 1 July 2026
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, s 108(2) · Customer‑provided transaction documents to be retainedOfficial text ↗
The reporting entity must retain: (a) the document; or (b) a copy of the document; for 7 years after the giving of the document.
Text as at 1 July 2026

Other terms that apply to these records

This page covers aml/ctf transaction records on their own. The same file is often caught by other laws as well, with different periods and start dates. See why a legal term is not a schedule.

4 records. 4 sets of rules. They don't agree.

One business file can hold all of these at once.

AML/CTF transaction records7yAnti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, s 107(1), (3), s 108(2) · the record is made or the document is given
Customer due diligence (KYC) records7yAnti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, s 111(2), s 114(1), s 35F(2), s 35F(3) · the business relationship ends
Business tax records5yIncome Tax Assessment Act 1936, s 262A(1), (4) · later of preparation or the transaction
Personal information no longer neededDestroyPrivacy Act 1988, Schedule 1, APP 11.2, APP 4.3 · no longer needed for any permitted purpose

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