Australia’s political stability, open economy and strong financial and property markets make the country an attractive destination for global investment—and a target for illicit financial flows. Long-standing structural weaknesses in anti-money laundering regulations, available sanctions data and beneficial ownership transparency have effectively left the door open to criminal actors seeking to conceal their ill-gotten wealth in the Australian economy, and without sufficient visibility or data access, authorities, civil society and the public cannot distinguish lawful from illicit investment.

Drawing on six case studies, and published to mark the 4th anniversary of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, this new report from Transparency International Australia demonstrates that Australia’s current AML/CTF and sanctions frameworks contain persistent gaps—particularly in beneficial ownership transparency, enabler regulation and sanctions enforcement—that limit the country’s ability to identify and address Russian-linked illicit finance.