Date:  22 April 2025
Source: Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)

AUSTRAC has issued updated guidance to assist financial institutions in accommodating customers who are unable to provide standard forms of identification. AUSTRAC recommends that financial institutions develop and use alternative identification and verification procedures. The updated guidance aims to balance compliance with anti-money laundering and counter‐terrorism financing obligations with the need to ensure financial inclusion for vulnerable groups.

Alternative identification procedures

Under the revised guidance, AUSTRAC encourages financial institutions to adopt flexible alternative identification procedures, including accepting alternative identification options as a means of verifying a customer’s identity. Alternative identification options include referee statements, government correspondence, recently expired identification, other non‐standard forms of proof and, as a last resort, self‐attestation.

The update addresses the diverse challenges faced by vulnerable customers, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, customers affected by family and domestic violence, those impacted by natural disasters, individuals transitioning from incarceration and intersex, transgender or gender diverse customers.

Key implications for financial institutions

When developing its alternative identification and verification procedures, a financial institution will need to:

• review…