53Reports about movements of monetary instruments into or out of Australia

53 Reports about movements of monetary instruments into or out of Australia

Offence (1) A person commits an offence if: (a) either: (i) the person moves one or more monetary instruments into Australia; or (ii) the person moves one or more monetary instruments out of Australia; and (b) the sum of the monetary instrument amounts is $10,000 or more; and (c) a report in respect of the movement is not given in accordance with this section.

Penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years or 500 penalty units, or both.

Civil penalty (2) A person must not: (a) move one or more monetary instruments into Australia; or (b) move one or more monetary instruments out of Australia; if: (c) the sum of the monetary instrument amounts is $10,000 or more; and (d) a report in respect of the movement is not given in accordance with this section. (3) Subsection (2) is a civil penalty provision. Commercial carriers (4) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a person if: (a) the person is a commercial passenger carrier; and (b) the monetary instruments are in the possession of any of the carrier’s passengers. (5) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a person if: (a) the person is a commercial goods carrier; and (b) the monetary instruments are carried on behalf of another person. (6) A person who wishes to rely on subsection (4) or (5) bears an evidential burden in relation to that matter. Requirements for reports under this section (7) A report under this section must: (a) be in the approved form; and (b) contain the information specified in the AML/CTF Rules; and (c) be given to the AUSTRAC CEO, a customs officer or a police officer; and (d) comply with the applicable timing rule in the AML/CTF Rules.

Note 1: For additional rules about reports, see section 244.

Note 2: Division 8 of Part 15 sets out special enforcement powers relating to this section.

Note 3: See also section 18 (translation of foreign currency to Australian currency).