ACAMS-AUSTRAC Outreach to Examine How Suspicious Matter Reports Drive Financial Crime Disruption
ACAMS’ Australasian Chapter will host a virtual outreach session with AUSTRAC on 10 September 2026 focused on how suspicious matter reports (SMRs) are turned into financial intelligence and used to disrupt money laundering, terrorism financing, proliferation financing and other serious crime.
The one-hour event, titled From Filing to Disruption – How Intelligence Is Used and What It Means for Your Reporting, will run from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. AEST. Registration closes on 8 September. Active ACAMS members in the Australasian region can receive one ACAMS credit after completing the webinar.
What AUSTRAC will cover
According to ACAMS, AUSTRAC will use case studies to explain what happens after reporting entities submit an SMR, how intelligence and collaboration are applied, and why reporting quality matters to financial-crime disruption.
The session will address common misconceptions about SMRs, the relationship between effective reporting and a reporting entity’s understanding of its money-laundering and terrorism-financing risks, the characteristics of higher-quality SMRs, and how SMR intelligence is used by law-enforcement and intelligence partners.
Speakers include Niki Amitai, Specialist in AUSTRAC’s Industry Education & Outreach team; Andrew Manning, Manager in Regulatory Operations; Vicky Orshansky, Director in Regulatory Operations; and Natalie Saad, Director of Fintel Alliance. The session will be moderated by Crispin Yuen of the ACAMS Australasian Chapter.
The event is particularly relevant for compliance teams preparing for Australia’s expanding AML/CTF regime because it links regulatory reporting obligations to the downstream intelligence and enforcement process, rather than treating SMR filing as a purely procedural requirement.
