The lawyers behind Mossack Fonseca would have faced less stringent money-laundering rules if the firm was located in Australia rather than Panama, an economic crime expert says.
Lawyers who help set up companies in Australia were not compelled to comply with internationally accepted anti-money laundering standards, Deakin University law professor Louis De Koker said.
Professor De Koker and others criticised the federal government for having allowed a statutory review of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to drag on for three years. 
The review's outcomes are expected to lead to a tightening of Australian standards for "designated non-financial businesses and professionals".
This group includes lawyers, real estate agents, dealers in precious stones, notaries, accountants, and trust and company service providers at risk of coming into contact with organised criminals. There are expectations they will be compelled by national laws to adopt stricter anti-money laundering control measures.
"I'm confident that the review will recommend their adoption, but the question is, when are we going to see that review report?" Professor De Koker asked. "It should have been out quite some time ago."
Uniting Church director Mark Zirnsak, a member of the secretariat for the Australian arm of the International Tax Justice Network, called on Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer to commit to better protection for whistleblowers.
As The Australian Financial Review revealed in   February, the Turnbull government is looking at extending whistleblower law to specifically protect - and possibly reward - those who inform on multinationals cheating on their tax bills.
"In light of the Panama Papers, the government should be following through on these commitments previously made, not dragging the chain on them," Mr Zirnsak said. "This is a wake-up call to implement these measures on who really owns companies, whistleblowing protections and the loopholes in our anti-money laundering laws."
Mr Zirnsak and Professor De Koker agreed Australia's immediate response to the Panama papers should be to make good on a G20 pledge to publish beneficial ownership information. That is, make it easier to see through complex company and trust structures to learn the identity of the "beneficial owners" of those businesses.
"A 2015 international review of transparency of beneficial ownership found the Australian system deficient," Professor De Koker said. "These deficiencies create vulnerabilities for Australia that organised crime and terrorists can exploit. This is also a matter that is expected to feature prominently in the findings and recommendations of the statutory review."
The leak of more than 11 million Mossack Fonseca documents revealed how the world's wealthy and powerful used offshore companies to stash assets. Of the 800 Australians listed in the files, 80 of those are identified in the Australian Crime Commission's database for serious and organised crime.
The Australian Taxation Office is leading a bid for a joint international probe, as well as working closely with the Australian Federal Police, Australian Crime Commission and AUSTRAC to "further cross-check the data and strengthen our intelligence" on those identified in the leak.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act came into force in 2006. It requires verification of a customer's identity and reporting any suspicious matters to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre. A spokeswoman for Ms O'Dwyer was unable to provide further information about potential changes to whistleblower laws. Justice Minister Michael Keenan's office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
Key points
A review of the 2006 act has dragged on for three years.
The Turnbull government intends extending the whistleblowing law.