Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988

PART I - PRELIMINARY  

SECTION 3   INTERPRETATION  

3(1)    

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

ACC
means the Australian Crime Commission.

acceptable referee
means a person in a class of persons declared by the Minister, by notice in the Gazette , to be acceptable referees for the purposes of this definition.

account
means (except in Part VIA ) any facility or arrangement by which a cash dealer does any of the following:

(a) accepts deposits of currency;

(b) allows withdrawals of currency;

(c) pays cheques or payment orders drawn on the cash dealer by, or collects cheques or payment orders on behalf of, a person other than the cash dealer;

and includes any facility or arrangement for a safety deposit box or for any other form of safe deposit, but does not include an arrangement for a loan that sets out the amounts and times of advances and repayments, being amounts and times from which the borrower and lender may not depart during the term of the loan.

Note:

Section 40C defines account for the purposes of Part VIA .

account information
, in relation to an account with a cash dealer, means:

(a) information identifying the account, including any identifying number; and

(b) the name in which the account is held; and

(c) information, and documents, provided to the cash dealer by the holder of the account (whether provided in relation to that account or another account), as follows:

(i) an address, not being a Post Office Box address, for the holder of the account;

(ii) if the account is held in:

(A) the name or names of an individual or individuals; or

(B) the name of an unincorporated association -

that fact;

(iii) if the account is held in the name of a body corporate (other than as a trustee) - that fact and a copy of the certificate of incorporation (if any) of the body corporate;

(iv) if the account is held in a business name registered on the Business Names Register - that fact and a copy of the entry in the Business Names Register obtained under section 60 of the Business Names Registration Act 2011 relating to the business name and containing the details referred to in paragraphs 33(1)(a), (b), (d) and (e) of that Act (identification details, business name, address for service and period of registration);

(iva) if the account is held in a business name of which registration on the Business Names Register has been applied for but not yet obtained - that fact and a copy of the application;

[ CCH Note: No 172 of 2011, s 3 and Sch 1 item 5 contains the following application provision:

5 Application of amendments to the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988  
5
The amendments made by items 22 and 23 of Schedule 2 to the Business Names Registration Consequential Act apply in relation to accounts opened on or after the change-over day.

]

(v) if the account is held in trust - that fact and the prescribed details of the trustees and beneficiaries of the trust.

acting member of the NCA
(Repealed by No 125 of 2002)

ADI
(authorised deposit-taking institution) means:

(a) a body corporate that is an ADI for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 ; or

(b) the Reserve Bank of Australia; or

(c) a person who carries on State banking within the meaning of paragraph 51(xiii) of the Constitution.

AFP member
means a member or special member of the Australian Federal Police.

Agency
(Repealed by No 188 of 1991)

approved
means approved by the AUSTRAC CEO, in writing, for the purposes of the provision in which the term occurs.

approved cash carrier
means a cash dealer declared by the AUSTRAC CEO to be an approved cash carrier under section 8 .

AUSTRAC
means the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre continued in existence by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 .

AUSTRAC CEO
means the Chief Executive Officer of AUSTRAC.

Australia
, when used in a geographical sense, includes the external Territories.

Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence
(Repealed by No 125 of 2002)

authorised officer
means a person in respect of whom an appointment as an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act is in force under section 27A .

bank
(Repealed by Act No 48 of 1998)

banker
includes a body corporate that is an ADI.

Board of the ACC
means the Board of the Australian Crime Commission established under section 7B of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 .

building society
(Repealed by Act No 44 of 1999)

bullion seller
means a person who carries on a business of selling bullion.

business hours
, in relation to a place, means the period between 9 am and 5 pm on a day other than:

(a) a Saturday; or

(b) a Sunday; or

(c) a day that is a public holiday in that place.

Business Names Register
means the Register established and maintained under section 22 of the Business Names Registration Act 2011 .

business premises
, in relation to a person, means premises, or a part of premises, of the person used, wholly or partly, for the purposes of business operations of the person, but does not include premises, or a part of premises, used as a place of residence.

cash dealer
means:

(a) a financial institution;

(b) a body corporate that is, or, if it had been incorporated in Australia, would be, a financial corporation within the meaning of paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution;

(c) a motor vehicle dealer who acts as an insurer or insurance intermediary;

(d) a financial services licensee (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 ) whose licence covers either or both of the following:

(i) dealing in securities (as defined by subsection 92(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 );

(ii) dealing in derivatives (within the meaning of Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 );

(e) (Repealed by No 123 of 2001)

(f) a Registrar or Deputy Registrar of a Registry established under section 14 of the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911 ;

(g) a trustee or manager of a unit trust;

(h) a person who carries on a business of issuing, selling or redeeming travellers cheques, money orders or similar instruments;

(j) a person who is a bullion seller.

(k) a person (other than a financial institution or a real estate agent acting in the ordinary course of real estate business) who carries on a business of:

(i) (Repealed by No 130 of 2017)

(ia) exchanging one currency for another, or converting currency into prescribed commercial instruments, on behalf of other persons; or

(ib) remitting or transferring currency or prescribed commercial instruments, or making electronic funds transfers, into or out of Australia on behalf of other persons or arranging for such remittance or transfer; or

(ii) preparing pay-rolls on behalf of other persons in whole or in part from currency collected; or

(iii) (Repealed by No 130 of 2017)

(l) a person (other than a financial institution or a real estate agent acting in the ordinary course of real estate business) who carries on a business in Australia of:

(i) on behalf of other persons, arranging for funds to be made available outside Australia to those persons or others; or

(ii) on behalf of persons outside Australia, making funds available, or arranging for funds to be made available, in Australia to those persons or others;

(m) a person who carries on a business of operating a gambling house or casino; and

(n) a bookmaker, including a totalisator agency board and any other person who operates a totalisator betting service.

cash transaction
means a transaction involving the physical transfer of currency from one person to another.

Centrelink officer
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

Child Support Agency
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

citizenship certificate
, in respect of a person, means a certificate, declaration, notice or other instrument in respect of the person ' s status as an Australian citizen or British subject, or otherwise in respect of the person ' s nationality, issued under:

(aa) the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 ; or

(a) the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 ;

(b) (Repealed by No 21 of 2007)

(c) (Repealed by No 21 of 2007)

or under regulations made under either of those Acts.

commence to provide a designated service
has the same meaning as in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 .

commercial goods carrier
means a person who, in the normal course of a lawful business, carries goods or mail for reward.

commercial passenger carrier
means a person who, in the normal course of a lawful business, carries passengers for reward.

Commissioner
means the Commissioner of Taxation.

Comptroller-General of Customs
means the person who is the Comptroller-General of Customs in accordance with subsection 11(3) or 14(2) of the Australian Border Force Act 2015 .

co-operative housing society
means a society registered or incorporated as a co-operative housing society or similar society under a law of a State or Territory.

credit union
(Repealed by Act No 44 of 1999)

CSA officer
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

CTR information
(Repealed by No 188 of 1991)

currency
means the coin and paper money of Australia or of a foreign country that:

(a) is designated as legal tender; and

(b) circulates as, and is customarily used and accepted as, a medium of exchange in the country of issue.

customer-generated financial transaction document
has the meaning given by section 40D .

customs officer
means an officer of Customs within the meaning of the Customs Act 1901 .

designated service
has the same meaning as in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 .

designated service transaction
: if:

(a) a reporting entity provides, or commences to provide, a designated service to a customer (within the meaning of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 ); and

(b) the provision of the service involves a transaction;

the transaction is a designated service transaction .

Director
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

established customer
, in relation to a financial institution as at a particular time, means a person who has been a customer of the financial institution for not less than 12 months immediately preceding that time.

examiner
has the same meaning as in the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 .

financial institution
means:

(a) an ADI; or

(b) a co-operative housing society;

and, in Part VIA , includes:

(c) a body corporate that is, or that, if it had been incorporated in Australia, would be, a financial corporation within the meaning of paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution; and

(d) a person who carries on a business of operating a casino; and

(e) a totalisator agency board.

foreign currency
means the currency of a foreign country.

FTR information
means information obtained by the AUSTRAC CEO under Part II and includes information included in a notice under subsection 22(1) or in a copy of a record given under subsection 24(5) .

futures broker
(Repealed by No 123 of 2001)

given name
means a name other than a surname.

identification document
means a primary identification document or a secondary identification document.

identification record
has the meaning given by section 20A or section 24C , as the context requires.

identification reference
has the meaning given by section 21.

identifying cash dealer
means a cash dealer in respect of whom a declaration under section 8A is in force.

insurance broker
means a person who carries on the business of arranging contracts of insurance, whether in Australia or elsewhere, as agent for intending insureds.

insurance business
means the business of undertaking liability, by way of insurance (including reinsurance), in respect of any loss or damage, including liability to pay damages or compensation, contingent upon the happening of a specified event, and includes any business incidental to insurance business as so defined, but does not include:

(a) health insurance business within the meaning of Division 121 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 carried on by a private health insurer within the meaning of that Act; or

(b) business undertaken by a person, being an innkeeper or lodging-house keeper, relating only to the person ' s liability in respect of goods belonging to another person and in the possession or under the control of a guest at the inn or lodging-house of which the first-mentioned person is the innkeeper or lodging-house keeper or deposited with the innkeeper or lodging-house keeper for safe custody; or

(c) the business of insuring property of a registered religious institution (within the meaning of the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 ) where the person carrying on the business does not carry on any other insurance business.

insurance intermediary
means a person who:

(a) for reward; and

(b) as an agent for one or more insurers or as an agent of intending insureds;

arranges contracts of insurance in Australia or elsewhere, and includes an insurance broker.

insured
means a person (other than the insurer) who is entitled to a benefit under a contract of life insurance.

insurer
means a person who carries on an insurance business.

Integrity Commissioner
(Repealed by No 89 of 2022)

Inter-Governmental Committee
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

international funds transfer instruction
means an instruction for a transfer of funds that is transmitted into or out of Australia electronically or by telegraph, but does not include an instruction of a prescribed kind.

international travel document
means:

(a) a current passport; or

(b) an expired passport that:

(i) was not cancelled; and

(ii) was current within the preceding 2 years; or

(c) another current identity document, having the characteristics of a passport, issued by a government, the United Nations or an Agency of the United Nations for the purposes of international travel.

member of the NCA
(Repealed by No 125 of 2002)

member of the staff of the ACC
has the same meaning as in the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 .

member of the staff of the NCA
(Repealed by No 125 of 2002)

member of the staff of the Police Integrity Commission
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

minimum retention period
has the meaning given by section 40E .

National Anti-Corruption Commissioner
means the Commissioner within the meaning of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022 .

NCA
(Repealed by No 125 of 2002)

NCA Act
(Repealed by No 125 of 2002)

non-reportable cash transaction
means a cash transaction:

(a) to which a cash dealer is a party; and

(b) that is not a significant cash transaction or is an exempt cash transaction; and

(c) that is not a designated service transaction that occurred after the commencement of Division 3 of Part 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 .

non-reportable currency transfer
(Repealed by No 144 of 2005)

non-reportable transfer
, in relation to currency, means a transfer of currency out of Australia or into Australia in respect of which a report under section 15 is not required.

official
, in relation to a Royal Commission, means:

(a) a legal practitioner appointed to assist the Commission; or

(b) a person otherwise assisting the Commission and authorised in writing by the sole Commissioner or a member of the Commission.

paper money
means money comprising a note written, printed or otherwise made on paper or any other material.

Police Integrity Commission
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

police officer
means:

(a) an AFP member; or

(b) a member of the police force of a State or Territory.

prescribed commercial instrument
means:

(a) a cheque, bill of exchange, promissory note or other like instrument creating an entitlement to currency; or

(b) any instrument (including an electronic instrument) that is declared to be a prescribed commercial instrument for the purposes of this definition.

primary identification document
, in relation to a person, in a particular name, means:

(a) a certified copy, or an extract, of a birth certificate of the person; or

(b) a certified copy of a citizenship certificate of the person; or

(c) an international travel document for the person; or

(d) any other prescribed document;

that shows that name as the person ' s name.

produce
includes permit access to.

public authority
means an authority or body, whether a body corporate or not, established or incorporated for a public purpose by or under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.

reporting entity
has the same meaning as in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 .

reporting period
, in relation to a significant cash transaction, means:

(a) if the transaction involves foreign currency - the period ending at the end of the day after the day on which the transaction takes place or such longer period as is prescribed by the regulations;

(b) if the transaction does not involve foreign currency - the period ending at the end of 15 days after the day on which the transaction takes place.

required details
, in relation to an identification document, means:

(a) in the case of a birth certificate - the name and date of birth of the person in respect of whose birth the certificate is given and the date and office of issue of the certificate;

(b) in the case of a citizenship certificate - the name and date of birth of the person in respect of whom the certificate is issued, the date of issue of the certificate and the name of the person who issued the certificate;

(c) in the case of a passport - the name and date of birth of the person to whom the passport is issued and the country and date of issue and the number of the passport; and

(d) in the case of a secondary identification document - the name shown in the document as the name of the person to whom or in respect of whom the document was issued, the date of birth of that person (if shown), the address of that person (if shown), the kind of document, the person who or the authority that issued the document, the identifying number (if any) of the document and the date of issue or expiry (if any) of the document.

retail business
means a business:

(a) the principal element of which is the provision of goods to ultimate consumers; and

(b) the takings or receipts of which include substantial amounts of currency.

Royal Commission
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service
(Repealed by No 170 of 2006)

RSA
has the same meaning as in the Retirement Savings Accounts Act 1997 .

secondary identification document
, in relation to a person in a particular name, means a document (other than a primary identification document) which establishes the identity of the person in that name.

securities dealer
(Repealed by No 123 of 2001)

send
, in relation to currency, includes send through the post.

signatory
, in relation to an account with a cash dealer, means the person, or one of the persons, on whose instructions (whether required to be in writing or not and whether required to be signed or not) the cash dealer conducts transactions in relation to the account.

signatory information
, in relation to a signatory to an account with a cash dealer, means information and documents (whether obtained by the cash dealer in relation to that account or another account), as follows:

(a) the name used by the signatory as his or her name in relation to that account;

(b) if the account is held in the name of an unincorporated association - a copy of the instrument authorising the signatory to sign;

(c) any other name by which the signatory is commonly known, being a name disclosed to the cash dealer;

(d) an identification record for the signatory in accordance with section 20A .

significant cash transaction
means a cash transaction involving the transfer of currency of not less than $10,000 in value.

solicitor
means a person who practises as a solicitor, whether by himself or herself, as a member of a solicitor corporation or as a member of a partnership of solicitors, and whether or not the person also practises as a barrister.

staff member of ACLEI
(Repealed by No 89 of 2022)

State
includes the Northern Territory.

surname
includes a family name.

taxation law
has the same meaning as in the Taxation Administration Act 1953 .

taxation officer
means:

(a) a Second Commissioner of Taxation;

(b) a Deputy Commissioner of Taxation; and

(c) a person appointed or engaged under the Public Service Act 1999 and performing duties in the Australian Taxation Office.

Territory
does not include the Northern Territory.

totalisator agency board
means a board or authority established by or under a law of a State or Territory for purposes that include the purpose of operating a betting service.

transaction
, in Division 2 of Part II , has a meaning affected by subsection 3(7) .

unit trust
means a trust to which a unit trust scheme relates and includes:

(a) a cash management trust;

(b) a property trust; and

(c) an arrangement declared by the Minister, by notice in writing published in the Gazette , to be a unit trust for the purposes of this definition;

but does not include an arrangement declared by the Minister, by notice in writing published in the Gazette , not to be a unit trust for the purposes of this definition.

unit trust scheme
means any arrangement made for the purpose, or having the effect, of providing, for a person having funds available for investment, facilities for the participation by the person as a beneficiary under a trust, in any profits or income arising from the acquisition, holding, management or disposal of any property pursuant to the trust.

3(2)    
A reference in this Act to a document being signed by a party to a transaction includes a reference to the document being signed on the party ' s behalf.

3(3)    
A reference in this Act to transferring currency out of Australia is a reference to taking or sending currency out of Australia.

3(4)    
A reference in this Act to transferring currency into Australia is a reference to bringing or sending currency into Australia.

3(5)    
For the purposes of this Act, where a person ' s name consists of one or more given names and a surname, the following names shall be taken not to be different from one another:

(a) a name consisting of that given name or those given names and that surname;

(b) a name consisting of any one or more of those given names and that surname;

(c) a name consisting of a nickname of the person and that surname;

(d) a name consisting of a nickname of the person, that given name or those given names and that surname;

(e) a name consisting of a nickname of the person, one or more of those given names and that surname.

3(6)    
A reference in subsection (5) to a given name of a person includes a reference to a diminutive form or Anglicised form of a given name of the person.

3(7)    

Division 2 of Part II applies in relation to a proposal for a transaction, or negotiations for a transaction, in the same way as it applies in relation to a completed transaction.