Happy July 1st, everybody.
It’s such a special day today if you live in Australia. Today is the day that the new Austrac AML (Anti Money Laundering) regulations take effect.
Briefly, the new regulations say that if you have hired a lawyer, accountant, real estate agent, or even a jeweler or any such professional or vendor to work for you, they are also working for the Australian government. This is because if these professionals merely suspect that any of your activities cross legal boundaries, they are required to report it to the Australian authorities (Austrac) under penalties of being fined or losing their license to practice their profession.
It’s not only that, but they are not allowed to tell you if they are reporting you. You will never know until you are nabbed.
This means those you need to trust for confidentiality and client privilege will offer no such thing.
KGB goes Down Under.
I learned about this from an Australian lawyer who explained it on his YouTube channel. You can see the video here:
Here are some excerpts from the transcript (don’t you love copy/paste?):
I'm on my way to court, so I can't sit down and do this properly with you. But everything is about to change at the end of the month, and you need to know this. This is about the people you trust, the people you should be able to trust.
Dealing with your life, some of the most important things that you have, money, relationships, legal advice, real estate agents, accountants, people who deal in precious stones and metals, because come July, they're no longer just going to be working for you. In fact, if they notice anything suspicious, they're going to be required to report it to the government, and they're not allowed to tell you. And there's a real question as to whether or not this fundamentally changes the relationship between lawyers and their clients forever. And as a lawyer, I can tell you it's very concerning because there's a real question as to whether or not everything you tell a lawyer is going to be privileged or if this continues, that privilege starts to disappear.
So, let's start with when this kicks off, because it kicks off on the 1st of July, 2026. That's not far away. And while everybody's being distracted by the budget and the changes to tax and incentives and thresholds, this is almost largely being ignored in the mainstream media. And part of the reason I think this is probably not hit the news properly is it doesn't sound like it's going to affect you. That's the brilliance of it. Cuz what this is, is touch two of the anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing regime which, if you just read that, you would never think it applies to you but it goes a fair bit further. We're talking about lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, conveyances, brokers. The important thing is these are not fringe industries. These are these are professions where people need that degree of trust. They need to know that if they tell this person something, they're not just going to turn around, tell the government, tell Austrac, and not be able to warn you that you are now under investigation.
The people you trust with your most private affairs are now built in. They're wired into the reporting system. So, the mechanism is something called a suspicious matter report. And that report goes to Austrac.
And it's not about believing that somebody's committed a crime or that they're about to commit a crime. The threshold is just suspicion. If things don't add up, and ordinarily before this regime, they could probably ask you about it. But the issue is that now if they're even suspicious based on a lack of information that could very well trigger an obligation to send that report to Austrac. And suspicion can come from simple innocent things. It can come from things being rushed. It can come from things being recorded badly or not properly looked after in terms of records. And even if you trust your lawyer, which I certainly hope you do, or your accountant, I can tell you that when people are running a business, when they have these professional obligations, and when the risk of not reporting something means that they could lose their livelihood, they're going to report it.
The most concerning part is that once they decide or are concerned that there's some sort of suspicious activity going on, they file the report. That's it. They can't tell you. They're not allowed to under penalty. It's something called the tipping off rule, which, in the simplest way to explain, means that the person reporting you can't advise you. They can't let you know that you might be under investigation.
So, in many ways, it almost prevents your lawyer or your accountant from being able to help you get ahead of a badly reported or a missed document. To put it into context, you could be sitting down for a conference with your lawyer or accountant and at the end of it they can shake your hand, say it was good to see you, see you out the door, and that's the end of it. You won't get a warning. You won't get a letter. You may never know. And it might not just be that one professional. It might be both. It might be more if you have a mortgage broker as well or somebody who looks after your real estate.
So, let's get back to the broad justification for this. The official line is that this closes the gap for criminal organizations and how they're able to support themselves. And in many ways, almost as always, that's true. It does, because the criminals that are making a lot of money do hire lawyers. They do hire accountants and they try to make it as legit as possible. They use company structures and trusts. So, it's kind of like a dragnet because it catches everything. But that's the problem. Catches everything. And that means you and me and anyone else who's watching this.
Nobody has to be corrupt. Nobody has to be malicious. This is the system working exactly as it's designed to. And that's why it's so important to know how the system actually works and what you can do about it or at least be aware of how it works and what's happening because almost always this is how power expands. It doesn't do it dramatically or with some big announcement or with boots on the ground. It does it quietly, slowly, and always with paperwork.
This is Big Brother Watching at its finest. I wonder if it applies to morticians, as well. (“Where’s the body?”)
So, this quiet law has now gone into effect in Australia (not one of my favorite places). Why Australia?
I wrote in a previous post, that Australia is one of only two countries that consider themselves “Western democracies” that do not have a constitution that includes a Bill of Rights. When there is no constitutional law to guarantee one’s privacy, there will be laws that guarantee the invasion of privacy.
The other one is the great State of Israel. All Jews have the right to live here but, it seems, nobody has the rights to live here. Still, I think we are safe from laws like this. The Knesset would never pass it. The individual MKs have too much at stake.
But if you’re not Australian or Israeli, don’t relax just yet. I am sure the countries that do have Bills of Rights are going to be watching this very carefully. Now, most of these “Western” places are headed for Sharia law anyway, so it won’t much matter, but even if they manage to hold out, they are very good at creative “interpretations” of the Bill of Rights. What if they call it, “Financial terrorism”?
Orwell calls this "Newspeak".
The Cold War may be over, but if so, the communists won. We can still “vote” for our leaders and our lawmakers (while we are dead or alive) and we can proclaim our “rights”. But the “authorities” can make their own rules, and when they do, there is nobody to complain to. It’s their ball.
Once one has a Google account or a Microsoft account, “they” know everything about you. You already have no privacy. But, just in case, your own lawyer and accountant will fill them in. At your expense. And when you land on “their” radar screen, you will never know it. They are not even allowed to tell you.
I suppose this means that they are probably not even going to tell you about this new AML regulation. Don't expect your lawyer or accountant to "read you your rights" and to tell you, "From here on in, anything you tell me can and will be used against you in Austrac." they like to pass these new laws very quietly. (No worries, mate, you 'eared it from me.)
And, for us Jews, this is even more scary. We Jews like to engage Jewish lawyers, Jewish accountants, Jewish real estate agents and Jewish jewelers. And, very often, we like to pay for things in cash. What will happen when a Jewish lawyer or accountant has grounds to “suspect” a Jewish client of shady activities?
What a mess! Just like the old KGB days in communist Russia. You cannot trust the gabbai of your shul.
Well, the KGB has arrived Down Under and they may soon show up at a theater of operations near you.
So, Happy July 1st. Happy Summer!
Is it any wonder that this year July 1 falls on erev 17 Tammuz?
Be worried. Be very worried!
ואין לנו על מי לסמוך אלא על אבינו בשמים.
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