AML/CTF for Brisbane property law firms

7 min readUpdated 21 May 2026By Ben Horne

Queensland does not have a separate conveyancer profession. Property settlements are performed by solicitors, so a Brisbane property law firm is captured under the AML/CTF Act through the law-firm route rather than the conveyancer route. The substantive obligations are the same. Caltury handles the workflow for a small property practice.

Queensland is the law-firm jurisdiction

Unlike NSW, Victoria, SA and WA, there is no licensed-conveyancer profession in Queensland. Property work is done by solicitors at law firms ranging from sole practitioners through to top-tier national firms. The AML/CTF Act picks all of this up via the designated services for legal professionals.

From 1 July 2026, every property matter you act on is potentially a designated service. The two that bite hardest are 'assisting in the buying or selling of real estate' and 'acting for a client in a financial transaction involving real estate'. Conveyancing matters fall squarely into the first. Many commercial property matters will also bring in the second.

Settlement-day pressure in Brisbane practice

The pressure point is the same in Brisbane as in Sydney or Melbourne: CDD has to be complete before the designated service is provided, not in the week of settlement. Most independent Brisbane firms operating with one or two solicitors and a paralegal will need to move CDD to file-opening rather than treating it as a settlement-week item.

Caltury captures CDD at file-opening, runs sanctions and PEP screening at intake, branches the customer form for company or trustee buyers, and surfaces upcoming CDD freshness checks ahead of settlement. The 10-business-day IFTI clock and 3-business-day SMR clock are both tracked from the dashboard.

What a Brisbane property firm needs from a software solution

Three things, at a minimum. A Program tailored to a law firm doing property work (not a generic AML template). A KYC and sanctions workflow that runs at file-opening without leaving your matter system. A 7-year retention vault that survives staff turnover, regardless of who originally opened the file.

Caltury covers all three. The Program is generated from a property-law-firm template that names QLS, the law-society rules and the Legal Profession Act framework explicitly. The KYC flow uses Stripe Identity for individual verification. The retention vault is append-only and exportable so any future audit can be answered with a single download.

  • Program template specific to a QLD law firm doing property work
  • Customer form branches for individuals, companies, trustees
  • Stripe Identity for individual verification, OpenSanctions for screening
  • Append-only audit log for the full 7-year retention period
  • Founder-staffed support, async written, usually within a few business days

Common questions

We are a 3-partner Brisbane firm doing 80 percent conveyancing. Is Caltury sized for us?

Yes. The Practice tier at A$249 a month plus GST is built for 2 to 5 person firms. There is no per-matter pricing, so a high-volume conveyancing practice is not penalised on price. The Firm tier scales to 15 users.

Does Caltury produce a Program QLS would accept?

QLS does not accredit AML/CTF Programs (that is AUSTRAC's role under the Act). Caltury produces a Program that matches the form and content AUSTRAC expects to see for a property law firm, including Part A risk methodology and Part B customer-identification procedure. You sign it as the AML/CTF Compliance Officer for the firm.

Can I integrate with our existing practice management system?

Customer data can be imported by CSV today. A direct API integration with the larger AU PMS vendors is on the roadmap. The interim workflow most Brisbane firms use is a CSV export from their PMS into Caltury when a new client is engaged.

What support do you offer if we hit an issue mid-settlement?

Support is async written, by email or in-app. Replies come from Ben Horne, the founder, usually within a few business days. The help centre covers most operational questions for property work, and the Program builder explains each Part A and Part B section in plain English as you confirm it.

This page is general information about Australian AML/CTF obligations. It is not legal advice. AUSTRAC has not reviewed this content. For situations specific to your practice consult an Australian-qualified lawyer or AML/CTF adviser.

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