Australians send a steady stream of dollars to India, for family, study costs, property and savings. The Indian half of the story is covered in our bank vs transfer service guide. This one is about the Australian half: the regulator behind your provider, what the system reports about your transfer, and a sensible order of checks.
Step 1: confirm your provider is registered
Start with a fact that surprises people. In Australia, it is against the law to provide remittance services without being registered with AUSTRAC, the financial intelligence agency and anti-money-laundering regulator. Registered providers go on a public Remittance Sector Register. They register as a remittance network provider, an affiliate of one, or an independent remittance dealer, and AUSTRAC says network providers and independent dealers must renew every three years.
Banks are not on that register. They are supervised through a different route and carry their own AUSTRAC obligations. So the practical test is: if the company is a bank, check it is a bank; if it is a money transfer company or a corner-shop agent, look for its place on the register. AUSTRAC’s page names the register but doesn’t walk consumers through the search, so use the register on AUSTRAC’s website and search by business name.
If you can’t find it, pause. That doesn’t prove wrongdoing (names differ, agents trade under a network provider’s registration), but it’s a fair question to put to the provider before handing over money.
Step 2: pick the channel
ASIC’s Moneysmart describes three main ways to send money overseas from Australia.
A money transfer company. Usually the cheapest option, according to Moneysmart. The recipient can get the funds in a bank account or collect cash at a branch or agent. Paying in person tends to be faster but costs more.
A bank transfer. Also called a telegraphic transfer, wire or SWIFT transfer. Moneysmart says banks are often more expensive, with less competitive exchange rates.
An international bank draft. Your bank issues a guaranteed cheque that you post. Safer than a personal cheque, but slower and costlier than doing it online.
Moneysmart’s timing guidance is wide: some transfers are instant or take minutes, while bank transfers can take up to five business days. Check the estimate on screen rather than trusting a general rule.
Step 3: what the system reports about your transfer
Here the news is less alarming than it sounds, but you should know the outline.
Under the rules that applied for years, every international funds transfer instruction going in or out of Australia by a reporting provider was reported to AUSTRAC as an International Funds Transfer Instruction (IFTI) report. Financial institutions filed one type (IFTI-E); remittance providers and other non-banks filed another (IFTI-DRA). AUSTRAC’s page doesn’t state a minimum amount, and the report is due within 10 business days. It contains details about everyone involved: sender, receiver, institutions along the way, the amount and currency.
That regime is changing. AUSTRAC’s reforms to the AML/CTF framework took effect on 31 March 2026, and a new “international value transfer service” (IVTS) report is set to replace IFTI. The duty falls on the reporting entity closest to the Australian customer. At the time of checking, AUSTRAC’s summary said transitional rules keep the existing IFTI framework running until the timeframes for IVTS reporting are set, and it gave no IVTS start date. So the safest summary is: expect your transfer to be reported, since the page states no minimum amount, and expect the format to change.
The same reforms changed what travels with the money. Payee information must now accompany transfers alongside payer information, and the first institution in the chain has to verify the payee details. For you, that can mean more questions about the recipient (full name, relationship, purpose) than a few years ago. Have the beneficiary’s name exactly as it appears on their bank record.
Cash is a separate matter. A business that provides a designated service involving the transfer of physical currency of A$10,000 or more (or the foreign-currency equivalent) must submit a threshold transaction report to AUSTRAC within 10 business days. If you hand a remittance agent A$12,000 in notes, expect a report and ID checks. Paying by bank transfer or card avoids the cash trigger and leaves a cleaner paper trail.
Step 4: compare total cost with arithmetic
Moneysmart lists what to compare: the exchange rate you’ll actually get (not just the advertised one), whether the rate is guaranteed for a period or can change, conversion fees (flat, percentage or both), any margin charged for converting, whether the recipient is charged too, and minimum and maximum limits.
Two of those items matter more than they look. A rate that can change between the quote and the moment you pay is a different product from a locked one, so ask which you’re getting. And the advertised rate on a homepage is a headline; the rate on the final confirmation screen is the one that counts. If the two differ, the second is your real price. Screenshot it.
A worked example (illustrative numbers)
Suppose the mid-market rate is 55.00 rupees per Australian dollar and you send AUD 5,000. The live figure is on our AUD to INR page, with rates refreshed hourly. Two made-up offers:
| Bank wire | Transfer company | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | AUD 22 | AUD 5 |
| Rate | 54.20 | 54.80 |
| Rupees received | ₹271,000 | ₹274,000 |
| Short of mid-market (₹275,000) | ₹4,000 | ₹1,000 |
| Rate gap in AUD | 72.73 | 18.18 |
| Total cost | AUD 94.73 (1.89%) | AUD 23.18 (0.46%) |
The recipient is ₹3,000 better off with the second offer, which is worth about AUD 54.55 at the mid-market rate, and you’d pay a smaller fee too. The bank figure could also grow if an intermediary bank takes a cut on the way. Banks, Moneysmart says, are often more expensive, but that is a tendency, not a law. Some transfer companies are no bargain. Run the numbers each time.
Before you press send
Three minutes covers it. Confirm the provider on the register (or confirm it is a bank). Write down the rate and the rupee amount shown, and check whether the rate is guaranteed. Match the beneficiary’s name and account details to a written source. Save the receipt and any reference number. That’s it.
One scam point deserves its own line. Moneysmart says money sent to a scammer is almost impossible to recover. If someone you met online, or a “bank official” who rang you, is pushing you to send money to India urgently, stop and ring your bank on a number you look up yourself.
If something goes wrong
Contact the money transfer company first, in writing if possible. Moneysmart says that if you aren’t satisfied with the response, you can complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). Keep your receipts and transfer documents, and find out the refund time limit before you pay, not after. We didn’t find a published cancellation window for Australian remittances, so treat that as something to ask your provider directly.
Tax questions are for an adviser. Sending support to family is common, but your own circumstances (income from India, property, a joint account) can change what applies, and we haven’t listed thresholds here. To see how the rupee sits against other currencies, the South Asia region page is a good place to start.
Sources
- Moneysmart, Sending money overseas
- AUSTRAC, Remittance service providers
- AUSTRAC, Money transferred to and from overseas: IFTI reports
- AUSTRAC, Threshold transaction reports (TTRs)
- AUSTRAC, Summary of changes for current regulated entities
- MinterEllison, AML/CTF reforms: new value transfer reporting obligations
Checked: November 2026
