Australia Re-Lists 15 People, Two Entities Under Counter-Terrorism Financing Sanctions

Australia has re-listed 15 people and two entities under its counter-terrorism financing sanctions regime, renewing asset-freeze measures that took effect again on Oct. 3 after a required review under the country’s United Nations sanctions law.

The re-listings were made by Foreign Minister Penny Wong through a legislative instrument under Part 4 of the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945. Under that framework, counter-terrorism financing listings do not stay in place indefinitely. They automatically expire on the third anniversary of the date they were last made unless the minister decides they should continue.

In a detailed notice published by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the government said the 17 re-listings were made under the Charter of the United Nations (Listed Persons and Entities) Amendment (No. 4) Instrument 2026. DFAT said the measure re-lists 15 persons and two entities with immediate effect, preserving Australia’s domestic counter-terrorism financing sanctions over names already on the system rather than creating an entirely new sanctions program.

Review keeps sanctions in force after their three-year sunset

The Oct. 3 action matters because it keeps legal restrictions in force on people and organisations that otherwise would have dropped off Australia’s sanctions framework as their existing listings reached the three-year review point. DFAT had already warned in an Aug. 21 notice that a group of listed persons and entities was under consideration for continuation, giving affected parties formal notice before the government made its final decision.

That review-and-renewal process is a core feature of Australia’s Part 4 sanctions regime. Rather than treating a listing as permanent, the law requires the foreign minister to reconsider whether the grounds for the designation still exist. The Oct. 3 action shows Canberra concluded they did for this group.

The DFAT notice identifies the re-listings as counter-terrorism financial sanctions under sections 15 and 15A of the Act. More broadly, Australia’s Part 4 framework is part of its implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, which requires states to suppress the financing of terrorism and restrict access to funds by terrorists and their facilitators.

Although the government’s Oct. 3 notice is framed procedurally, the move is still consequential. A re-listing preserves the legal freeze on assets and the wider prohibition on making funds or other assets available to listed people or entities. For banks, remitters, charities, exporters, non-profits and other counterparties, the practical issue is continuity: the names remain on Australia’s sanctions architecture and screening obligations continue.

Hamas-linked names account for the largest part of the relisting set

In a separate ministerial release, Wong said the re-listings include eight persons and one entity linked to Hamas, first listed in response to the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The release said those people include members and operatives involved in Hamas’ covert investment network across multiple countries in the Middle East and Africa.

According to the minister, that investment network generates profits used to finance Hamas’ terrorist activities, including attacks. Wong said the re-listed group includes Hamas’ investment portfolio secretary, senior portfolio managers, and current and former members of Hamas’ Political Bureau. At least one of those figures, she said, has close ties to the Iranian regime.

The same official statement said Australia is coordinating sanctions work with a range of international partners and remains committed to using targeted financial sanctions to disrupt terrorist financing. By highlighting the Hamas-linked segment of the re-listings so prominently, the government indicated this was a central focus of the announcement, even though the legal instrument covers a broader set of people and organisations.

DFAT’s notice publishes the names covered by the re-listing instrument. Those listed include people long associated with earlier Australian sanctions actions, such as Neil Christopher Prakash, Mostafa Mahamed and Abraham Succarieh, alongside the Hamas-linked names in the current package. The government’s August notice identified Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company and Islamic State Sinai Province as the two entities under review, and the Oct. 3 relisting instrument covers two entities in total.

That combination underlines an important point about the Australian system. The Oct. 3 action is not a one-issue announcement aimed only at one organisation. It is a maintenance step across an existing sanctions portfolio, with the largest single block tied to Hamas but other re-listed names spanning different strands of Australia’s counter-terrorism designations.

What the sanctions mean in practice

Under Australia’s sanctions rules, it is a criminal offence to use or deal with the assets of a listed person or entity, or to make assets available to them, directly or indirectly, unless authorised. Wong’s office said breaches of Australian sanctions law can carry heavy fines and up to 10 years’ imprisonment. That makes the announcement relevant well beyond foreign-policy watchers, because sanctions compliance obligations fall on financial institutions, payment businesses, companies and others that could unknowingly facilitate prohibited dealings.

DFAT’s earlier notice also set out the direct consequences for anyone holding a freezable asset connected to a listed person or entity. A person who uses or deals with that asset, allows it to be dealt with, or facilitates its use without authorisation can commit an offence. The same applies to anyone who makes an asset available to a listed person or entity without authorisation. In practice, that means the legal effect of a re-listing is immediate and operational, not merely symbolic.

The procedural rights are also part of the framework. According to DFAT, a listed person or entity can request an unclassified statement of reasons for a listing and may apply to the minister to have the listing revoked. Those review avenues do not suspend the effect of a listing, but they do show that the Australian regime combines executive sanctions power with a formal reconsideration process and an avenue to seek removal.

For readers following the policy rather than the legal mechanics, the key point is narrower: Australia did not unveil a brand-new terrorism sanctions program on Oct. 3. It renewed an existing group of designations after a statutory review, keeping 15 people and two entities subject to counter-terrorism financing sanctions under its domestic UN sanctions framework. The re-listings took effect on Oct. 3 and remain part of Australia’s broader effort to restrict the movement of money and assets that could support terrorist activity.