Real Estate Trust Account Regulations: A State-by-State Guide for Australian Property Managers

Picture an agency with offices in Sydney and Perth. Its trust audit year ends on 30 June in Sydney and 31 December in Perth. That is because each state and territory sets its own real estate trust account regulations. I wrote this guide to cover all eight, where AUSTRAC fits and which duties stay with your licensee.

What Real Estate Trust Account Regulations Cover

A trust account holds money that belongs to someone else. For a rent roll, that is mainly rent collected for owners and money held to pay their bills. For a sales team, it includes deposits held until settlement. The money is not the agency’s own, so each state and territory has a law on how it is held, paid out and checked.

The details differ, but the laws share a common shape:

• A separate account: Held with a bank or similar institution. Its name usually marks it as a trust account
• Prompt banking: Money goes in quickly, from daily or next-day banking to as soon as practicable
• Records: Every dollar in and out is recorded and kept for a set number of years
• Controlled payments: Money goes only to the person entitled to it, by approved methods
• Regular checks: Most jurisdictions require a monthly reconciliation, but not all
• An audit: A qualified auditor checks the records, usually once a year

The stakes are high. As I said on my show, “It’s a highly regulated industry and failing to comply with legal obligations can lead to hefty fines, legal disputes and reputational damage.” A deadline that is right in Brisbane can be wrong in Perth.

I cover trust account interest state by state in a separate guide.

State-by-State Trust Account Regulations at a Glance

The first table shows the main law, the regulator and the audit year in each place. Each row reflects the regulator’s own guidance or the law as at October 2026. This is general information, not legal or accounting advice. Rules change, so check with your regulator before you rely on a date.

The audit year can be changed in Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA, the ACT and the NT. The banking and checking rules differ too.

The NT Act sets no reconciliation rule. It requires day-to-day records of trust money in and out. They must be kept so they can be properly audited.

The NT Regulations add one more duty. Real estate and business agents must follow rules of practice from the Real Estate Institute of the NT (REINT). We found no REINT rule on reconciliation. The Board has also issued an exemption from some trust obligations, so check whether it applies to you.

What Changed in 2025 and 2026

My compliance episode says it plainly: “Property laws change regularly.” These are the changes I would put on your radar:

• South Australia: The Land Agents Regulations 2025 replaced the 2010 rules on 7 August 2025. The detailed trust rules now sit there
• Western Australia: Consumer Protection moved into a new department on 1 July 2025
• New South Wales: Court penalties for mishandling trust money went up on 29 June 2026. The top fine is now $55,000 for a person and $110,000 for a company
• Victoria: A missed audit or a late report can now lead to a licence suspension. Since 9 September 2026, the Business Licensing Authority can suspend a licence for up to 12 months
• Federal: AML/CTF rules for real estate sales began on 1 July 2026, as set out below

Who Can Approve a Trust Payment in Each State

Each law names who carries the trust account duty. The title changes by state. In this guide, your licensee means whoever your state’s law puts in charge of the account:

• New South Wales: Only the licensee in charge may authorise a withdrawal. They cannot hand that power to anyone. Another person in the agency may release a transfer. They can do so only once the licensee in charge has approved it in writing. Only the licensee in charge may sign a cheque
• Victoria: The estate agent signs cheques and approves transfers. For a company, it is the officer in effective control. A signatory employee may step in only when that person is not available
• Queensland: Only the agent, an employee the agent has authorised, or a person the Act permits may operate the account
• Tasmania: A transfer needs approval from the person in charge of the office. Someone acting with their consent may also approve it
• ACT: Payments go only by electronic transfer or crossed cheque. A registered assistant property agent must not withdraw trust money. We found no rule naming who must approve each payment
• Western Australia, South Australia and the NT: The law limits what can be paid out and to whom. We found no rule naming who must approve each payment

In NSW, the licensee in charge can still be liable for a breach. That holds even when someone else made the withdrawal.

That is why our model keeps the bank in your hands. On my show, I was asked if our assistants get bank access. My answer was clear: “We will never ask you for your bank login information”.

For daily receipting or reconciling, all we need is “the download file and or a bank statement”. For end of month, we prepare the ABA payment file, “but only you can upload it through the bank”. The same goes for bills, invoices and BPAY payments.

My guide to outsourcing accounting lists what you can hand over and what has to stay.

How AUSTRAC’s 2026 Reforms Affect Trust Accounts

Since 1 July 2026, AUSTRAC has regulated businesses that broker the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate. In plain terms, that is sales work. Enrolment opened on 31 March 2026.

Most of your rent roll’s work sits outside the regime. Arranging a lease of 30 years or less is not brokering real estate, because under this law such a lease is not real estate.

Rule 2.1 of the class exemption rules adds a separate carve-out for trust money. It covers a real estate agent who manages rental income and expenses through a trust account. For that work only, the Act’s money-handling service does not apply. It does not reach sales deposits in the same account.

Your sales team is inside the regime. A business that brokers sales now has duties that include:

• Enrolling with AUSTRAC
• Running a written AML/CTF program
• Due diligence on buyers and sellers
• Reporting suspicious matters
• Keeping records

Trust money still matters on the sales side. AUSTRAC lists red flags for the sector. One is a buyer who pays a cash deposit into trust, pulls out and asks for a refund. Another is a request to hold a deposit in trust for longer than needed.

Banking, Receipts and Reconciliation Rules

The second table covers how fast you bank and how often you check. Receipt rules vary too. Most of the differences are in how electronic payments are handled:

• Victoria: Give a receipt at once. A cheque or electronic payment that you record electronically needs no receipt unless the payer asks
• Queensland: Complete the receipt form at once. For an electronic deposit, do it on the day you learn of it. The payer gets a copy if they ask
• Western Australia: Give a receipt at once, unless the money came by electronic transfer. Then keep a money record instead
• South Australia: For an electronic payment, issue the receipt once you get official confirmation. Otherwise, issue it at once
• Tasmania: An electronic payment needs no receipt unless the payer asks. Give it a unique reference number instead
• ACT: Money credited electronically needs no receipt

For NSW and the NT, check the receipt rules with your regulator.

I saw what steady receipting can free up with Teresa. She is Operations Manager for a large student accommodation agency in Brisbane. A dedicated assistant took on all her agency’s receipting. For the first time in seven years, she said, “One of our directors has been able to take holidays”.

When the Numbers Do Not Balance

One example in my book is a trust reconciliation. A team member finds “an unknown adjustment in the reconciliation this morning of $500”. Rather than play the blame game, I teach The Authority Code. Name the problem, look for answers first, find some options, then ask for help with the facts and no blame.

In a trust account, that question has to reach your licensee fast. Some states set short notice periods:

• Victoria: Tell Consumer Affairs Victoria and your auditor within 3 business days of finding a shortfall. No notice is needed if you fixed it within 2 business days of finding it. That applies only if it was accidental or caused solely by a bank error
• ACT: Tell the commissioner in writing within 5 business days of finding an overdrawn account
• New South Wales: Fair Trading’s audit checklist expects a debit balance to be reported to it. It expects this within 5 days of the licensee knowing
• Western Australia: You and your bank must both report an overdrawn account as soon as practicable
• Tasmania: Give the Board written notice of an irregularity as soon as practicable. Give the same written notice to any other authority that regulates the account

Audit Requirements and Deadlines Under Trust Account Regulations

Each state and territory requires an audit of your trust records. The audit period is usually a year. A first or last period can be shorter or longer.

If you held no trust money, there is usually a simpler step. In most places, that step is a declaration. The trigger and the step differ by state, so check yours.

Auditor rules vary by state. In NSW, your auditor cannot have been your employee or partner in the past 2 years. In WA, the trust account handbook adds a rule. The Commissioner will not approve an auditor who also acts as your general accountant.

Inconsistency in your own processes is a risk too. I made the point when I introduced PMVA. “With lack of consistency, all too often our clients come to us with problems around compliance and legislation.”

Two of my five compliance steps help here. Stay informed on changes to the rules, and document everything.

Who Lodges the Report

The last column of the first table shows who lodges in each place. In NSW, the auditor lodges through the Auditor’s Report Online portal. Even so, it is the licensee’s job to make sure it goes in on time.

Tasmania adds a half-yearly trust account report to the Board. It is due by 31 July and 31 January. You lodge it through the Board’s portal, and a late fee applies.

What a Late Audit Costs

• New South Wales: Fair Trading can issue a $550 fine for a person or $1,100 for a company. It can also take disciplinary action. In a 2026 case over an audit lodged months late, NCAT cut the penalty to $2,500. The reprimand stood
• Victoria: Up to 120 penalty units ($209.10 each in 2026-27), plus the new power to suspend
• Queensland: You can be fined or convicted, and your licence can be suspended or cancelled
• Western Australia: The Commissioner can issue a $600 infringement notice. In October 2025, a Bicton agency and its director were fined $18,000 in total. They had three years of overdue audits
• ACT: Up to 50 penalty units, or a $500 notice for a person
• South Australia: If you ignore a Commissioner’s notice to lodge for 28 days, your registration is cancelled
• Tasmania: A late fee applies after the third business day past 30 September. An audit not done within 3 months of 30 June carries up to 50 penalty units
• Northern Territory: A late audit is an offence. There is a defence if your auditor was engaged in good time but ran late. To rely on it, you or your auditor must send the Registrar a written statement before the deadline. It must give the reasons for the delay and say when the audit will be finished

Penalties, Prosecutions and the NSW Name and Shame List

Penalties for misusing trust money are heavy. In NSW, trust account fraud can bring up to 10 years in prison. Victoria sets up to 10 years or 500 penalty units for a person who uses trust money fraudulently. In Queensland, the Office of Fair Trading cites up to $34,540 or 2 years in prison.

Two NSW cases show how this plays out:

• February 2025: A former licensee in charge got a two-year, ten-month intensive corrections order. She had taken $1.402 million from strata trust accounts in 31 transfers
• February 2026: Fair Trading said it had disciplined more than 50 agents in 12 months. One Epping agent lost his licence and was banned for five years over around $300,000 of trust money

Since its launch on 25 January 2026, actions like these also go on the Name and Shame register. Each listing shows the trader’s name, ABN or ACN, licence number and suburb. It also shows the action taken and why.

Not every breach is on purpose. As I warn on my show, “mismanaging funds, even accidentally, can result in severe legal consequences”. That can include the loss of your licence.

Record-Keeping and Retention Under Trust Account Regulations

Retention periods are not the same across the country: 

• Victoria: At least 7 years
• Western Australia: At least 6 years from the date the money came in
• Tasmania: At least 6 years. The records cannot leave the state without the Board’s written consent
• Northern Territory: At least 6 years after the last entry
• Queensland: At least 5 years
• South Australia: At least 5 years
• ACT: 5 years from the 30 September after the record was made

For NSW, confirm the period with Fair Trading.

Your software matters too, and part of my own background is in it. I spent four years as Head Trainer at Console.

NSW Fair Trading’s guide for auditors says Excel and MYOB do not comply for trust accounting. Auditors are told to record their use as a breach. Through our bookkeeping support, we keep Xero and MYOB to your own books, not trust money.

Good records also bring calm. I saw this with Sarah, Head of Property Management for a large Canberra agency. Once her team ran one process, she said, “I have peace of mind knowing where everything is and that important tasks are being handled.”

Building Compliance Into Your Daily Systems

This is the split we build our model on. Preparing the work can be shared. Approving where the money goes stays with your licensee.

Access is part of the control. In NSW, each person with access to the trust account needs their own login and passcode. Our assistants do not hold your bank logins. For software logins, my episode on data put it this way: “You will control the passwords and emails of your dedicated virtual assistant.”

Responsibility for the results stays with you too. On my show, I was asked who is responsible when you outsource. My answer was “ultimately you will be responsible for the outcomes and results”. As I said then, “outsourcing won’t change that”.

My Trust Accounting Handover Checklist

This is the handover I recommend, in five steps. We start with a rollout plan and consult with you twice weekly for the first six weeks:

1. Your agency supplies the bank data: You send us the bank download file or a statement
2. We prepare the receipting: We enter each receipt from that file for your licensee to check
3. Your licensee checks the reconciliation: We prepare it. Your licensee reviews it and signs it where your state requires
4. Your agency approves proposed payments: We batch bills, invoices and BPAY into a payment file. Your licensee approves it. Only your agency uploads it to the bank
5. We keep your audit file in order: Bank statements, reconciliations and notes are kept ready for your auditor. As I said on my compliance episode, “We can organise trust accounting records and financial reports”

Notices to your regulator stay with your licensee. For the full delegation line, see my guide to back office outsourcing. You can also book a strategy session to map it for your agency.

FAQs: Real Estate Trust Account Regulations

Make Compliance Your Edge

Real estate trust account regulations reward agencies that know their own state’s rules. Check who lodges your audit, when it is due and who may approve a payment. Then hand the admin to a team that follows your process every day. Book a strategy session to map which tasks can move and which stay with your licensee.