The Property, Stock and Business Agents Amendment (Property Industry Reform) Bill 2017 was passed by the Legislative Council on Wednesday 7 March 2018. It represents one of the most significant changes in the real estate profession in a long time!
The aim is to improve licensing and qualifications of agents and provide definition around the roles that can be undertaken at different levels of qualification / experience.
The changes impact initial qualifications and entry to the profession, progression through the profession and continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.
It is anticipated the qualification, licensing and CPD changes will commence late in 2018.
Some of the changes that we may see are:
An increase in the number of subjects that a person will need to undertake to enter the profession
Stream-lining of progression through the workforce: the entry level will be a Certificate of Registration which a person must hold for a minimum of one year, and a maximum of three years; a License will require the person to hold a Certificate IV and a License-holder must have industry experience before they can obtain a License; finally, a new category (Licensee-in-Charge) will be created with additional qualification and experience requirements.
Continuing Professional Development requirements will be increased and will stipulate a certain number of hours needing to be devoted to regulatory versus elective units.
This is all in the interests of professionalising the industry, increasing consumer confidence in agents and reducing the number of complaints. It is a very positive move!