General
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is the Federal government body who regulate the financial transaction reporting requirements of individuals, companies and other organisations in Australia. The legislation that governs these requirements is the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988. Controls are exercised over two main areas of financial transactions:
Account opening and cheque cashing facilities.
Cash and currency transactions amounting to AU$10,000 or more.
Identification is required for all cheque cashing facilities. A government-regulated 100-point identification scoring system determines whether the casino can allow an application to progress for assessment and approval.
Documents that can be applied towards the 100-point identification requirement include the following:
Original birth certificate (70 points).
OR
Current passport (70 points. {May be up to 100 points for overseas passport holders visiting Australia}).
OR
Australian citizenship certificate (70 points).
Australian licence or permit issued by the Commonwealth or a state or territory (40 points).
Name, current address and telephone number listed in the telephone directory (25 points).
Name and current address verified from the electoral roll (25 points).
Overseas driver's licence (25 points).
Overseas identification card (25 points).
Cash and/or Overseas Currency Transactions
Single and multiple cash transactions amounting to the equivalent of AU$10,000 or more need to be reported by the Casino to Austrac. Customers transacting such amounts will be asked to provide their name, address and some form of identification. Failure to provide the required information may be considered a breach of the Act.
Customers visiting from overseas should also note the requirement to declare to Australian customs cash or overseas cash amounting to AU$10,000 in value and above. A declaration of the value is required on entering and leaving Australia.
