Australia — Country Risk Report

Australia (Asia Pacific • Oceania). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

Low country risk. Australia's country risk score is 2.7/10, placing it in the low-risk band. The principal driver is weak political stability. Australia is not currently FATF grey- or black-listed. Australia is not subject to comprehensive country-wide sanctions.

Recommended treatment

Standard due diligence.

At a glance

  • FATF status: Not currently listed (one indicator only; it does not set the overall country risk rating by itself)
  • Comprehensive country sanctions: none identified. Targeted sanctions exposure: possible, screen applicable persons, entities and sectors
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 1.7/10
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 76/100, rank #12 of 182
  • Enforcement: 182 actions from 2 regulators

Country Risk Score: 2.7/10 (Low)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Full information available. Limited supporting information. Enforcement activity and CPI are shown for context but do not change the score.

All three parts of the score are available.

How this score was calculated

  • Financial crime controls: 4.3/10 — 50% of this score
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 1.7/10 — 30% of this score
  • International sanctions: 0.0/10 — 20% of this score
  • The FATF assessment is more than eight years old.

International sanctions contributes 0.0 because the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level sanctions programme. People or organisations connected to the country may still appear on sanctions lists.

Show the exact calculation

aml 4.3 × 50% + governance 1.7 × 30% + sanctions 0 × 20% = 2.7; final 2.7

Principal risk drivers

  • Government effectiveness and rule of law drive the score; no FATF listing or direct country-level sanctions were identified

Mitigating factors

  • Not currently on the FATF grey or black list.
  • No comprehensive country-wide sanctions programme.
  • Comparatively stronger corruption (1.5/10).
  • Overall governance and institutional quality are relatively strong.

Business impact

  • Customer onboarding (Low): Additional ownership and control verification may be required.
  • Payments and transactions (Low): Review transaction purpose, counterparties and geographic routing.
  • Trade and export activity (Low): Screen goods, end users and potential dual-use exposure.
  • Corporate clients (Low): Assess state ownership, government links and political exposure.
  • Ongoing monitoring (Low): Apply alerts for ownership changes, sanctions and geopolitical developments.

Recommended controls

  • Verify ultimate beneficial ownership using more than one reliable source.
  • Identify state ownership, government influence and politically exposed persons.
  • Screen entities, directors and beneficial owners against applicable sanctions lists.
  • Apply enhanced review to technology, defence, telecommunications, financial services and dual-use activity.
  • Document transaction purpose and source of funds where cross-border structures are complex.
  • Escalate unresolved ownership opacity or adverse information to Compliance.

Enhanced due diligence triggers

  • State ownership / control
  • PEP involvement
  • Sensitive / restricted sectors
  • Opaque ownership
  • Adverse media
  • Dual-use goods & technology
  • High-risk intermediary routing

FATF status: Not currently listed

Australia is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary.

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

  • UN: No
  • EU: No
  • UK: No
  • US: No

No means the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level programme. People or organisations may still appear on sanctions lists.

Government effectiveness and rule of law (World Bank 2024, percentile)

  • Government Effectiveness: 87/100
  • Regulatory Quality: 82/100
  • Rule of Law: 82/100

Enforcement activity

RegActions tracks 182 enforcement actions from 2 regulators in Australia.

The composite RegActions Country Risk Score does not use enforcement volume.

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

FATF member.

Last mutual evaluation: 2015 · report

National regulators

FIU: Egmont Group member (AUSTRAC)

Framework signals

  • FATF listing: Not currently listed
  • International sanctions: no listed programme identified
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 76/100, rank #12 of 182
  • Rule of law (WGI): 1.6/10 risk

Sector exposure

  • Banking & payments (Low): No FATF listing, rule-of-law governance within normal range
  • Trade & export controls (Low): No sanctions programme or FATF black-list constraint identified
  • Crypto & virtual assets (Low): No FATF listing, accountability governance within normal range
  • Real estate & luxury assets (Low): Corruption indicators within normal range for high-value assets
  • State-linked & procurement (Low): Political-stability and corruption governance within normal range

Derived from sanctions tier, FATF listing, World Bank WGI governance and CPI; no per-sector dataset is asserted.

Australia: analysis

Australia's governance is among the strongest in the dataset. Corruption (WGI) and rule of law both show a low risk rating, while political stability (strong) and voice and accountability (strong) are equally strong. The CPI ranking confirms an exceptionally low-corruption environment. No FATF listing or sanctions apply. Australia ranks in the upper decile of the World Bank governance indicators. Enforcement is active, with ASIC (112 actions, 2012 to 2026) and AUSTRAC (66 actions, 2009 to 2025) both maintaining consistent oversight.

Outlook

Australia is well-placed to maintain its low-risk standing. AUSTRAC's active enforcement posture, including against large financial institutions, signals that supervisory standards are being actively applied. Firms should remain attentive to evolving AML legislative requirements and AUSTRAC enforcement priorities as the regulatory framework continues to develop.

Key watchpoints

  • AUSTRAC enforcement activity and any changes to AML legislative requirements.
  • ASIC enforcement priorities in financial services and securities markets.
  • Maintenance of CPI and WGI scores, which anchor the low-risk assessment.
  • Any FATF engagement, though Australia is currently not listed and risk of listing is low.

Assessment currency

  • FATF status: Not listed (as of 19 Jun 2026)
  • Sanctions exposure: None identified (as of Jul 2026)
  • Governance (WGI): Latest dataset incorporated (as of 2024)
  • Corruption (CPI): 76/100 (as of 2025)
  • RegActions assessment: Reviewed (as of 19 Jun 2026)

Public evidence layer

FATF action: none. No FATF call-for-action or increased-monitoring status was identified at the latest plenary. This does not establish low risk.

Contextual signals (not scored)

  • FATF network membership: Direct FATF member (present, as of 2026-07)
  • EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Not listed in Annex I (absent, as of 2026-02-17)
  • Egmont Group FIU: AUSTRAC (present, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Beneficial-ownership register: No live register identified in the source (unavailable, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Transparency International CPI: 76/100, rank 12 (present, as of 2025)

Evidence freshness

  • FATF monitored-jurisdiction status: current; data 2026-06-19
  • FATF mutual evaluation and follow-up ratings: current; data 2026-07-31; follow-up 2024-03; base assessment 2015-04
  • World Bank governance indicators: current; data 2024
  • UN, UK, EU and US sanctions regimes: current; data 2026-08-16

Contextual signals are public evidence only and do not change the immutable v2 score.

Download evidence PDF · CSV · JSON

Regional peer scores

FAQ

Is Australia on the FATF grey list?

No. Australia is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary. FATF listing is one AML indicator; absence from the list does not by itself make Australia low risk. The next FATF plenary review is scheduled for Oct 2026.

Is Australia subject to sanctions?

No country-level programme was identified. In the approved RegActions snapshot, no comprehensive or targeted country-wide sanctions programme was found for Australia, but individual listed persons may still exist, so firms should continue to screen counterparties against the applicable lists.

What is Australia's country risk rating?

RegActions rates Australia at 2.7/10 (Low risk), where a higher score means higher country risk. The score combines financial crime controls, government effectiveness and rule of law, and international sanctions. Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index scores Australia 76/100 (rank #12 of 182).

What due diligence applies to Australia?

Standard due diligence. This is decision-support based on Australia's FATF status, governance and sanctions signals, and is not a substitute for a firm's own risk assessment.

How much enforcement activity is tracked for Australia?

RegActions tracks 182 enforcement actions from 2 regulators in Australia. Enforcement volume measures regulator activity, not country risk, so it is shown as evidence but never fed into the RegActions Country Risk Score.

Source: FATF black & grey lists · World Bank WGI (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank WGI) · TI CPI (CC BY-ND 4.0 — Transparency International, display only)