Australia's AUSTRAC Tranche 2 reforms took effect on 1 July 2026, and the final enrolment deadline for new reporting entities is 29 July 2026 [AUSTRAC, austrac.gov.au]. For tens of thousands of Australian companies, this has created an urgent and genuinely time-sensitive problem: their existing registered office provider is either no longer offering the service, or has not enrolled with AUSTRAC and is therefore operating outside the law.
The chain of events that created this situation
Until 1 July 2026, providing a registered office address for another company was an unregulated service. Accountants, lawyers, and various address providers offered it without any specific government oversight of that activity.
The AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024 changed this. Providing a registered office address is now a designated service under the AML/CTF Act, and any business offering it must be enrolled with AUSTRAC and running a formal compliance program [AUSTRAC, austrac.gov.au].
Many accounting practices, for whom the registered office service was a low-margin or unbilled courtesy, notified clients they would stop providing it rather than take on the cost and administrative burden of AUSTRAC compliance. Others who intended to continue have not yet enrolled. The enrolment deadline of 29 July 2026 creates a hard date by which this needs to be resolved.
What happens if you do nothing
Your company stays registered with ASIC regardless. ASIC does not automatically remove companies from the register because their registered office arrangement has changed. What changes is the practical reality behind the address.
If your accountant has withdrawn consent for you to use their address, that address is no longer a valid registered office under the Corporations Act, since consent from the occupier is legally required [Corporations Act 2001, s.142]. You need to update ASIC to a new address within 28 days of the change taking effect, or late fees apply.
If your current provider is still operating but has not enrolled with AUSTRAC, they are offering a regulated service without the required enrolment. Continuing to use them is not itself a direct breach by your company, but it means your identity has not been verified to the standard the law now requires of your address provider.
What to do right now
Find an AUSTRAC enrolled registered office provider. Ask them directly for their enrolment number. Confirm they will provide written occupier consent for ASIC purposes. Set up the new address. Then lodge the change with ASIC via Form 484 within 28 days, and separately update your ABN address with the Australian Business Register. Space Penguin is AUSTRAC enrolled, with addresses in Sydney and Melbourne from $20 per month plus GST. No setup fee, no lock-in. Visit spacepenguin.io/virtual-address to get started before the 29 July deadline.