Australian Sanctions List

Australia maintains a comprehensive sanctions regime that combines UN Security Council mandates with autonomous sanctions imposed under Australian law. The Australian Sanctions Office (ASO) within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) administers the regime, and the Australian Federal Police enforces it. Sanctions breaches are criminal offences carrying up to 10 years imprisonment.

The DFAT Consolidated List

The DFAT Consolidated List is Australia's single reference for all sanctioned parties. It includes every individual, entity, and vessel subject to Australian sanctions measures, covering:[1]

• Targeted financial sanctions — asset freezes and prohibitions on making assets available to designated persons
• Travel bans — restrictions on designated persons entering or transiting through Australia
• Arms embargoes — prohibitions on supplying arms or related materiel
• Maritime sanctions — restrictions on designated vessels

The list encompasses both UN-mandated sanctions (which Australia is obligated to implement as a UN member state) and Australia's own autonomous sanctions. In November 2025, the ASO launched significant enhancements to the Consolidated List, including standardised formats for nationalities and dates of birth, clearer identification of which measures apply to each listing, and classification of alias strength.[2]

Autonomous sanctions

Under the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011, Australia imposes sanctions independently of the UN Security Council for matters of foreign policy and national security. These autonomous sanctions currently target:

• Country-specific regimes — Myanmar, Russia (in response to the invasion of Ukraine), and Zimbabwe
• Thematic sanctions — weapons proliferation, significant cyber incidents, serious human rights violations and abuses, and serious corruption

Autonomous sanctions can include asset freezes, travel bans, and restrictions on providing specific goods or services. They operate alongside and in addition to Australia's implementation of UN sanctions.

Who must comply

Australian sanctions obligations apply broadly:

• All Australian persons — citizens and permanent residents, wherever they are in the world
• All entities incorporated in Australia — including subsidiaries and branches
• Anyone within Australian territory — regardless of citizenship
• Extended jurisdiction — offences apply to conduct on Australian ships, aircraft, and by Australian citizens abroad[3]

Financial institutions, remittance service providers, exporters, universities, and any organisation dealing with international counterparties must screen against the DFAT Consolidated List.

Penalties

Breaching Australian sanctions is a criminal offence under the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011. Penalties include:

• Imprisonment: up to 10 years
• Fines: up to $825,000 (2,500 penalty units) or three times the transaction value, whichever is greater
• Corporate penalties: bodies corporate face fines of up to five times the individual maximum

In October 2025, the Australian Federal Police charged the director of a Sydney remittance company for allegedly remitting approximately $649,000 to sanctioned Iranian banks across 543 transactions between 2021 and 2023. Following the charges, AUSTRAC suspended the company's remittance registration.[5]

Australia and multi-jurisdictional sanctions risk

Australian organisations with international exposure face sanctions obligations from multiple regimes simultaneously. A transaction that complies with Australian sanctions may still violate US (OFAC), EU, or UK sanctions — and vice versa. This is particularly relevant for:

• Financial institutions with US dollar correspondent banking relationships, which create OFAC jurisdiction
• Exporters shipping goods containing US-origin components, which may trigger BIS export controls
• Universities collaborating internationally, which may need to comply with Australian, US, Canadian, and other sanctions regimes depending on the partner's jurisdiction
• Mining and resources companies operating across jurisdictions that may have different sanctions targeting the same parties