Skip to main content
Financial Assistance Hub

ABA statement on AUSTRAC risk assessment report

6 September 2021

Australia’s banks have strong relationships with law enforcement authorities and regulators like AUSTRAC, and work together to detect, deter and prevent money laundering and other serious crime.

In recent years, Australian Banks have invested millions to improve their monitoring and reporting capabilities as well as hiring thousands of expert additional staff.

AUSTRAC’s banking sector risk assessments report released today is based on inherent risk. It does not consider any bank’s control environment.

  • The level of risk is based on a banks size, other factors include operating across multiple countries and jurisdictions and facilitating large volumes of international fund transfers for a large number of customers
  • The report indicates that the primary criminal threats facing banks are posed by global criminals who seek to use Australia to launder money, fund drug trafficking, tax evasion, frauds and scams.

The banks are continuously reviewing and uplifting their control environments in order to help mitigate the inherent risks noted in the report.

Latest news

1 / 3
Media Releases
Banks welcome APRA commitments to support more competition in Australia’s banking system
24 July 2025

The ABA welcomes APRA’s commitment to boosting competition for Australia’s mid-tier and international banks. In a speech today to the ABA’s Banking 2025 Conference, Chair John Lonsdale announced that APRA would: ABA CEO Anna Bligh said it was customers who would ultimately benefit from a strong and competitive banking system. “Today’s announcements from APRA will… Read more »

Read more
Media Releases
Mobile wallet payments soar amid digital banking boom
24 July 2025

Australians made a staggering $160 billion worth of payments with their mobile wallets last year, as they continue to embrace the ease and convenience of digital banking. The Australian Banking Association’s 2025 ‘Bank on It’ report released today reveals digital payments continue to surge with over four billion mobile wallet transactions made in the past… Read more »

Read more
Transcript
Anna Bligh interview with ABC Sydney Drive on mule accounts
23 July 2025

eo&e Chris Bath (Host): Now, I had no idea this is a thing. Australians are renting or selling their bank accounts so crooks can cash in. It’s called being a money mule. Anna Bligh is the CEO of the Australian Banking Association, and she’s here to tell you all about it. Anna, thank you very… Read more »

Read more