Page 4325 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 7 December 1993
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It is interesting that what would be a new category of conveyancer in the ACT goes back to the origins of the Torrens title system. Mr Humphries opened his remarks by talking about the great advantage the Torrens system had over the previous old common law system of land, and I heartily endorse those remarks. The advantages of the Torrens title system were drummed into me at an early age because the government high school I attended in the port district of South Australia was built on the former estate of Sir Robert Torrens. The Brokus, a museum on Woodville Road, Woodville, is the old house of Sir Robert Torrens. It was also infamous in the sense that they introduced sparrows on that property for amusing game shooting and they have became a major pest.
The introduction of the Torrens title system has some salutary warnings for another group of professionals in the ACT. The introduction of the system resulted in the first known black ban by a professional group in Australia. When Sir Robert Torrens introduced the Torrens title system through the South Australian Parliament with a view to making it easier and cheaper for people to undertake land conveyancing, the Law Society of South Australia took great exception to a parliament making it easier for people to deal in land, thus making it less profitable for lawyers to engage in the conveyances. The Law Society of South Australia announced that it would black-ban the Torrens title system, that no solicitor would engage in the conveyance of a Torrens title property. The answer by Sir Robert Torrens was to say, "If you want to put a black ban on this system, that is your business. We will create a new category of conveyancer". In South Australia, the profession of land broker was created back in 1870, when the Land Titles Act first went through the colonial parliament, as a response to a professional black ban.
Perhaps the doctors in the ACT, another professional group imposing a black ban, might realise that there have been professional groups imposing bans in Australia for over 100 years, and at the end of the day they will not prevail.
Mrs Carnell: Started by lawyers.
MR CONNOLLY: It was, I must confess, started by lawyers, but that unpleasant habit has been picked up by the doctors. The lawyers did not prevail. As a result of their black ban, we have the system of conveyancers. I am sure that the legal profession, which does not like the concept of conveyancers anywhere in Australia, rather wishes that back in 1870 they had not imposed a black ban on Torrens title land.
Mr Humphries asked for a timeline on the final completion of this project. I am unable to give a firm date of completion. The project of bringing the ACT's land title system onto a computerised database does go back some time. It commenced at about the time of self-government and so has gone across each of the administrations in the ACT. We have approved some expenditure in this year's budget to continue the process, and it is expected to be completed in a couple of years' time.
It will not be an overnight process; it will take some time. But when it occurs it will facilitate faster and simpler conveyancing. That will benefit individuals who wish to do their own conveyancing, because it is an option for members of the community to do their own conveyancing. There is nothing magical in the process, and a lay person who is prepared to put a bit of time into reading some
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