Page 1344 - Week 04 - Thursday, 5 May 2022
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To minimise the impacts of this change on existing real estate professionals, a transitional arrangement has been included to allow real estate and stock and station agents licensed prior to the commencement of the reforms to continue to conduct auctions under their existing licence until 1 July 2024. This transitional measure is subject to a condition that the agent must complete three units of auctioneering-specific training by 1 July 2024 in order to renew their licence. Agents who do not wish to conduct auctions after the conclusion of the transition period are not required to complete this training and will be able to continue to work and undertake all other agent duties.
The amendments also make a series of changes to the regulation of salespersons. From 1 July 2022 salespersons will be renamed assistant agents to better reflect that this is an entry-level position and individuals with this registration are not subject to the same levels of training as licensed agents.
The amendments also remove the unqualified salesperson registration pathway. This pathway allowed individuals to work in the industry who were enrolled in a course of study leading to registration but who had not yet completed it. To ensure that those registered through this mechanism are able to continue to work, unqualified salespersons will be able to work under their existing registration until 31 October 2023, to allow them sufficient time to complete the necessary training to register as an assistant agent.
The bill also recognises that the activities that can be performed under a licence or registration should align with the prescribed educational requirements of that licence or registration category. Accordingly, the ACT government has sought to maximise protections to the community by restricting the activities that assistant agents may undertake.
As part of these changes, assistant agents will be restricted from withdrawing trust money. We have heard from stakeholders that the highest risk of mismanagement occurs during the withdrawal of trust money. As a result, this restriction has been carefully constructed to address the area of highest risk while still allowing assistant agents to continue to conduct lower risk activities such as receiving rent payments and bonds and carrying out other administration tasks. Further noting the significant funds held on trust by agents, this restriction is not subject to any transitional measures and will commence for assistant agents on 1 July 2022.
The amendments also make it an offence for assistant agents registered after the commencement of the reforms to enter into agency agreements and conduct auctions. This restriction acknowledges the complexity of agency agreements and prevents an assistant agent from being able to make a binding agreement between a property owner and real estate agency to carry out services on the property owner’s behalf.
This restriction is not intended to prevent an assistant agent from undertaking property management activities. An assistant agent is still permitted to undertake activities which flow from the original agency agreement, such as executing residential tenancy agreements and completing property condition reports. As a transitional measure, the
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