By AUSTRAC, for TheShout
As part of the National Pubs and Clubs Campaign carried out over the past year, AUSTRAC compiled two fact sheets tailored for pubs and clubs. These fact sheets outline some myths and some important facts about money laundering as well as providing some tips to help pubs and clubs protect themselves against money laundering.
Since the release of these fact sheets, we’ve seen a great increase in the reporting volumes of suspicious activities which has helped us guard Australians from criminal activity. Suspicious matter reports submitted by businesses such as pubs and clubs are highly valuable and support AUSTRAC and our law enforcement partners to identify and take action against a range of offences, including drug dealing/trafficking and tax evasion.
During the campaign, AUSTRAC engaged with over 150 pubs and clubs across Australia that included visits to 18 of these. Through the collection and review of all cheque registers, AUSTRAC has been able to better understand their processes and help identify suspicious activities.
AUSTRAC has seen a number of significant outcomes come from this campaign that include:
- An increase of 37% in the number of pubs and clubs submitting suspicious matter reports since the release of the factsheets.
- Intelligence investigations resulting from the cheque register data collected.
The campaign also identified pubs and clubs facing high money laundering risks have the below characteristics:
- Venues that allow higher denomination currencies to be inserted into machines, and are
- Located in higher crime areas.
AUSTRAC is Australia’s financial intelligence agency that identifies threats and criminal abuse and works in partnership with industry and government agencies to protect Australia’s economy.
Should you not have received these fact sheets please be sure to obtain them from our website. For further assistance or if you believe you need to enrol, please call the AUSTRAC Contact Centre on 1300 021 037.
Media queries can be directed to media@austrac.gov.au, or follow us on Twitter @AUSTRAC.