Book excerpt: The book provides one of the first accounts of AML/CFT legislation in Australia, sets the international policy context, and outlines key international legal obligations. To minimise the negative impact on personal freedoms, it proposes a reading of Australian provisions in line with international caselaw. Expanding her analysis on the international level, the author offers an appraisal of the measures taken, both in terms of criminal policy and cost for civil society. She argues that the development of soft law and the increased powers given to law enforcement agencies, which sub-contract surveillance to the private sector, further erode the legitimacy of State action and the rule of law, and ultimately the democracy the laws were meant to protect.