Police said he communicated with people in Southeast Asia to procure children as part of a "pay per view child exploitation" scheme.
Law enforcement are focusing on one suspect in Australia but are working with international partners.
AFP spokesman Stefan Jerga said the move "should be a warning to anyone who preys on children".
"Every child being abused online is someone's son or daughter and should not be treated as a commodity for the abhorrent gratification of others," he said.
"The AFP makes no apologies for using the full force of the law to prosecute, disrupt and deter those who target our children within Australia or abroad."
Federal proceeds-of-crime laws give law enforcement the power to confiscate or seize people's assets if there is a reasonable suspicion they have committed a serious offence.
They are entitled to seize the proceeds of crime or an instrument used to commit it.
Police argue the suspect used the privacy afforded by the property to commit child sex offences, qualifying it as an instrument of crime.
If the move is upheld in court, the proceeds would be put towards crime prevention and support groups for victims of child sex abuse, Jerga said.
Police launched an investigation in February after Border Force officers at Melbourne Airport allegedly found child exploitation material on the man's iPhone. He had just disembarked a flight from Singapore.
He was arrested and charged the following month.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton revealed in September police would use proceeds-of-crime powers to go after the assets of paedophiles.
"If a sex offender is found to be profiting or seeking to gain from the exploitation of children, they can expect to have their bank account, their home or even their car seized," he told News Corp.
"We are going to target those who profit from an abhorrent trade in child abuse."
The AFP has charged 160 offenders with 1292 offences and removed 106 children from harm this year.
