Tipping Off — The Law Your Staff Need to Understand
One sentence to the wrong person could mean a criminal conviction for your staff member. Here’s what everyone in your venue needs to know.
Penalty: up to 2 years imprisonment. This applies to individual staff members — not just the venue.
What Is Tipping Off?
Tipping off means telling someone — directly or indirectly — that:
- An SMR has been filed about them
- An SMR is being considered
- Information about them has been given to AUSTRAC
- AUSTRAC is looking into their activity
It doesn’t have to be explicit. Even hinting at it counts. If a patron asks “why are you asking so many questions?” and a staff member says “we have to report this kind of thing,” that could constitute tipping off.
How Tipping Off Happens in Practice
Most tipping off isn’t malicious — it’s accidental. Staff don’t realise what they’re saying is illegal.
Scenario 1: The helpful staff member
A regular patron is told by a well-meaning bar manager: “Just a heads up, we had to flag some of your payouts. You might want to keep them smaller.”
This is a criminal offence.
Scenario 2: The gossip
A staff member tells a colleague: “Did you hear? We filed an SMR on that guy who’s always on machine 12.” The colleague mentions it to another staff member, who mentions it to their partner, who knows the patron.
The chain of disclosure makes everyone involved potentially liable.
Scenario 3: The indirect hint
A compliance officer tells front-of-house staff: “Keep an eye on table 4 — we’ve reported them.” Staff don’t need to know an SMR has been filed. They only need to know to escalate anything suspicious.
Sharing SMR status with staff who don’t need to know is tipping off.
Who Can Know About an SMR?
SMR information should be restricted to strictly need-to-know:
Can know
- The compliance officer who filed it
- The venue manager (if involved in the decision)
- Legal counsel (for advice)
- AUSTRAC
Cannot know
- The patron
- Other staff members
- Other patrons
- Family or friends
- Other businesses
What Changed in 2025
Tipping-off offence was reformed on 31 March 2025
The offence was reframed from a suspicion-based test to focusing on whether disclosure “would, or could, reasonably prejudice an investigation.”
This provides greater flexibility for legitimate information sharing within reporting groups (e.g., between venues in the same club group), but the core prohibition remains: you cannot tell the subject of an SMR that they’ve been reported.
What Staff Should Say Instead
When patrons ask questions that could lead to tipping off, staff should have rehearsed, neutral responses:
“Why do you need my ID?”
Say: “It’s a legal requirement for payouts of this amount. We need to verify your identity before we can process the payment.”
“Are you reporting me?”
Say: “We follow standard procedures for all transactions. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Why are you writing things down?”
Say: “We keep records of transactions as part of our compliance obligations. It’s standard for all customers.”
Protecting Your Staff
- Train every staff member on the tipping-off offence — not just compliance officers
- Restrict SMR information to the compliance officer and venue manager only
- Never tell staff an SMR has been filed — tell them to continue normal service
- Provide scripted responses for common patron questions
- Document your training — if a staff member tips off accidentally, evidence of training demonstrates your venue took reasonable steps
- Review your internal communications — are SMR details being shared in team chats, emails, or handover notes? Stop immediately.
References
- Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), section 123 — legislation.gov.au
- AUSTRAC, Suspicious matter reports — austrac.gov.au
- AUSTRAC, Tipping off — austrac.gov.au
Keep SMR information secure
ComplyIQ restricts SMR visibility to authorised compliance roles only. Staff see what they need to escalate — never the SMR status or details.