Terrorist Financing Prevention Measures in Australia Receive Mixed Ratings, Report Finds

A recent report evaluating Australia’s efforts to prevent terrorist financing has revealed a mixed bag of compliance with international standards. The assessment, conducted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), found that while Australia has made progress in certain areas, there are still significant gaps to be addressed.

Progress and Challenges

According to the report, Australia is largely compliant with FATF Recommendations regarding national cooperation and coordination, as well as measures to prevent the use of cash couriers for terrorist financing. However, the country falls short in several other areas, including:

• Regulation and supervision of financial institutions: Partially Compliant
• Transparency of beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements: Non-Compliant
• Reporting of suspicious transactions: Non-Compliant

The report also highlights Australia’s partial compliance with FATF Recommendations on assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach, as well as its incomplete implementation of measures to prevent the use of new technologies for terrorist financing.

Key Challenges

The report identifies several key challenges facing Australia in its efforts to prevent terrorist financing, including:

• Improved coordination between government agencies: A critical need
• More effective implementation of existing laws and regulations: Urgent attention required

Australian Government Response

The Australian government has vowed to address these challenges and improve its compliance with FATF Recommendations.

FATF Rating for Australia

Australia’s rating on the FATF scale is as follows:

The full report can be accessed online, providing further details on Australia’s compliance with each of the 40 FATF Recommendations.