Decision ris proposal for national licensing of the property occupations

Consultation

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) requires that all significant regulatory processes are developed in accordance with its principles for best practice regulatory process. This includes thorough, wide-ranging and timely consultation with affected stakeholders. The purpose of consultation on the national licensing reform is to meet this requirement by providing mechanisms for stakeholders in the property occupations to consider the options developed for national licensing reform and to comment on them.

A Consultation RIS outlining policy proposals for the establishment of a national licensing system for the property occupations was released on 15 August 2012 when it was published on the National Occupational Licensing Authority (NOLA) website at www.nola.gov.au. Stakeholders, including state and territory governments, relevant national and state organisations, members of the Interim Advisory Committee (IAC), regulator working groups and those who had expressed interest in receiving information on the reforms through the NOLA website were directly notified of the release of the Consultation RIS. Approximately 2,000 people were directly notified of the release of the Consultation RIS.

The policy contained in the Consultation RIS was based on that developed by the Property Occupations Interim Advisory Committee (IAC) during a series of meetings which took place throughout 2010––11. The IAC comprised representatives from industry, employer and employee associations, the training sector, regulators, and the consumer advocacy sector. The Consultation RIS also reflected policy positions developed through the National Licensing Steering Committee (the Steering Committee), which oversaw the policy process, comprised of representatives from state and territory government central agencies.

National framework legislation through the Occupational Licensing National Law Act 2010 (the National Law) has been passed in six jurisdictions (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory) to establish national licensing. During the policy development process it became clear that some amendments to the National Law will be required.

Draft national licensing legislation and regulations, including legislation to implement the proposed reforms in relation to the property occupations, were released on 14 September 2012 and were also a subject of the consultation process. The legislation was based on the policy advice developed by the IAC.

3.Public information sessions

Public information sessions concerning the Consultation RIS for the property occupations were held in each state and territory between 31 August and 25 September 2012. The information sessions were promoted through emails to registered subscribers, advertisements in major metropolitan newspapers and through the NOLA website. A total of 387 people attended the property information sessions. Details of the locations and numbers of registered attendees are outlined in Table 5.1.

The information sessions provided an opportunity for the COAG National Licensing Taskforce to outline the proposed arrangements, answer questions on aspects of the reforms and listen to views and comments from those attending.

Table 5.1: Consultation information sessions

Location	Date	Organisations present	Government Representatives	Total attendees
Canberra	29 August 2012	Real Estate Institute of Australia Real Estate Institute of Australian Capital Territory Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council Australian Institute of Building Strata Community Australia Several private registered training organisations, including Wisdom Learning and Presentation Plus Several real estate agencies, including Ian McNamee & Partners, Independent Property Group, Jones Lang LaSalle, Ray White K. M. Corke and Associates	National Occupational Licensing Authority ACT Directorate of Justice and Community Safety Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education NSW Fair Trading	23
Darwin	5 September 2012	Real Estate Institute of Northern Territory Service Industries Training Advisory Council Real estate agencies, including Ray White, O'Donoghues and First National	Department of the Attorney-General and Justice Department of Business Department of Treasury and Finance	20
Melbourne	11 September 2012	Real Estate Institute of Victoria Strata Community Australia, Facility Management Association Australian Institute of Conveyancers Australia Post KPMG Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE Several real estate agencies, including Elders, Landmark and Knight Alliance Several strata agencies, including SMS Management, DR Strata Management, MDCM Management, Victoria Body Corporate Services Professional Conveyancing Services John Sier and Associates P & S Business Brokers	National Occupational Licensing Authority Department of Justice Consumer Affairs Victoria Department of Treasury and Finance	52
Adelaide	12 September 2012	Real Estate Institute of South Australia Australian Institute of Conveyancers Construction Property Services Industry Skills Council TAFE SA Several private registered training organisations, including Business SA, Real Estate Training College Several real estate agencies, including Raine & Horne, Ray White, Century 21, Knight Frank, Remax, Harcourts and Commercial SA Several strata agencies, including Adelaide Strata Management, Strata Data Group, Leicester Management Services Adcocks Conveyancers Adelaide	Attorney-General Department Department of Education, Employment, Science & Technology	62
Sydney	14 September 2012	Real Estate Institute of New South Wales Real Estate Institute of Australia Real Estate Association of New South Wales Australian Livestock and Property Association Shopping Centre Council of Australia Strata Community Australia National Community Tiles Institute Australian Institute of Conveyancers Australian Residents Accommodation Managers Association Property Council of Australia Australian Industry Council Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council Arts, Communications, Finance Industries and Property Services (ITAB) TAFE NSW Several private registered training organisations, including Real Estate Training Solutions, Australian College of Professionals, Property Training Solutions, Unique Training Providers, Real E-training, Real Estate Courses NSW and Best Practice Training Several real estate agencies, including Raine & Horne, Commercial Real Estate, Marvay and Laing + Simmons Several strata agencies, including Ace Body Corporate Management, Harvie Strata Management and Strata Title Management ISSWorld Australia RM Designers Sterling Publishing Macquarie Bank Ltd	National Occupational Licensing Authority Department of Premier and Cabinet NSW Fair Trading Department of Finance and Services Australian Skills Quality Authority	65
Hobart	19 September 2012	Real Estate Institute of Tasmania Several real estate agencies, including Elders, LJ Hooker, PRD Nationwide, View Real Estate Tasmania, Petrusma Property, Harcourts Kingborough & Huon, South Real Estate, Peter Bushby Real Estate Southern Strata Insurance Solutions Tas Peacock Darcy & Anderson	Consumer Affairs & Fair Trading, Department of Justice Property Agents Board	20
Brisbane*	21 September 2012	Real Estate Institute of Queensland Real Estate Institute Australia Australian Livestock & Property Association Strata Community Australia (Qld) Australian Resident Accommodation Manager’s Association Construction Property Services Industry Skills Council Housing Institute Association Real-estate Dynamics Complete Property Training Several real estate agencies, including Elders, Harcourts, Blocksidge Real Estate, Ray White, John McVinnie Realty, Raine and Horne, LJ Hooker, PRD Nationwide, Cromwell Property, Sanctuary Cove Prestige Properties, Coolaroo Properties Pty Ltd and Pat Barrett Realty Management Rights and Hotel Finance ABS Business Sales GC Strata Management MacGillivrays Solicitors Resort Broker Australia PoolWerx Lista Consulting The Meadows Ferny Grove The Property Manager Doctor Watermark Constructions BOQ Bank Springfield Green	Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation Department of Justice and Attorney-General (Office of Fair Trading) Valuers Registration Board Australian Skills Quality Authority	72
Perth	25 September 2012	Real Estate Institute of WA Property Sales Association of Qld Real Estate Association of NSW Strata Community Australia WA Curtin University Training Accreditation Council (ITAB) Central TAFE Several private registered training organisations, including Housesafe Education, West Coast Property Training, Aspire Performance Training, Livepm Real Estate Network Western Australia Several real estate agencies, including LJ Hooker, DQ Real Estate, Paxton Hoad, Ray White Commercial, Home 2 Home Realty, Gordon Davies Real Estate, Property Gallery, The Property Firm, Action Real Estate, Professionals Real Estate Group, AW Property Group, MDA Property Group, Blackburne Property group, Network Exchange Realty, LWP Property Group, Elders, Richard Noble, Macro Realty, First National, McGee’s Property, Real Estate Masters, Richard Noble Exclusive Strata Management Service John Dethridge Strata Services Small Business Development Corporation Property Investment Resources Financial Administrative & Professional Services Training Council Millionaire Property Makers Business Brokers Perth Joseph Charles Learmonth Duffy Caltex Westnet UGL Limited Aon Macquarie group	Department of Commerce Western Australian planning Commission Department of Training and Workforce Development Department of Treasury	73

*The Brisbane session was also webcast through the Queensland Treasury website.