National Licensing for Property Occupations Consultation Regulation Impact Statement

Time cost of renewing a licence

It is assumed that renewing a licence is less onerous than applying for a new licence. A proxy based on the estimated effort to government (as illustrated by the renewal/new fee differential) has been used for illustrative purposes. The figures below are used to reduce the time component associated with applying for a licence. For example, in New South Wales it is assumed that it takes 13 minutes (68 per cent of 19 minutes) to renew a licence.

Table 4.59: Percentage of new licence costs incurred on renewal

Assumption	Unit	Value	Source
Fee differential between renewal and new licences
NSW	%	68%	Based on licence fee data – renewal fee over new licence fee for a real estate agent
Vic	%	59%	Based on licence fee data – renewal fee over new licence fee for an estate agent
Qld	%	35%	Based on licence fee data – renewal fee over new licence fee for real estate agents
WA	%	47%	Based on licence fee data – renewal fee over new licence fee for a real estate agent
SA	%	58%	Based on licence fee data – renewal fee over new licence fee for a land agent
Tas	%	67%	Based on licence fee data – renewal fee over new licence fee for a real estate agent
ACT	%	56%	New and renewal fees are the same, which would lead to 100%. As this is a proxy for applying to time, this percentage has been based on the average of all other jurisdictions where the percentage is not 100%
NT	%	56%	New and renewal fees are the same, which would lead to 100%. As this is a proxy for applying to time, this percentage has been based on the average of all other jurisdictions where the percentage is not 100%

Transition costs for industry

Under national licensing, transition costs would be imposed on industry. Specifically, licensees would need to understand the changes and how they are affected by them. Time costs would be incurred either by reading material, attending an information seminar or through some other means.

It is assumed that it would take each licensee 45 minutes to understand the changes, based on advice from the Office of Best Practice Regulation on what a reasonable assumption for this estimate would be in a Consultation RIS. It is assumed that this cost is incurred before the implementation of national licensing, in 2012–13. This estimate will be further tested with industry during consultations.

Table 4.60: Industry transition costs

Assumption	Unit	Value	Source
Industry transition costs (time to understand national licensing)
Time	Hours per licensee	0.75 hours	An assumption of 45 minutes per licensee

Mutual recognition

Case studies provided by – and discussions with – the COAG National Licensing Taskforce suggest that in some cases the time to obtain a mutual recognition can far exceed the time to obtain a licence for those residing in a given jurisdiction. This reflects additional search costs and potential delays associated with gaining mutual recognition. For that reason, this analysis assumed that obtaining a mutual recognition takes twice the time taken to obtain a licence for those residing in a jurisdiction.

Table 4.61: Time cost associated with obtaining mutual recognition licence, multiplication factor

Assumptions	Unit	Value	Source
Time cost to apply for a new licence under mutual recognition
Property services	Multiplication factor	2	Assumption based on information provided by the COAG National Licensing Taskforce and from jurisdictional regulators

South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have indicated that it would typically take less time for a licensee to renew such a licence compared with the time that would be taken if the licensee resided in their own jurisdiction. However, case studies provided by – and discussions with – the COAG National Licensing Taskforce suggest that licence applications are more onerous under mutual recognition, including for renewals. For that reason, this analysis has assumed that renewing a mutual recognition licence takes 5 per cent more time than the time taken to renew a licence for those residing in a jurisdiction (over and above the time to apply for a licence – see Table 4.58).

Table 4.62: Additional time cost upon renewal due to mutual recognition

Assumptions	Unit	Value	Source
Additional time cost due to mutual recognition (renewal only)
Property services	% per licence	5%	Assumption based on information provided by the COAG National Licensing Taskforce and from jurisdictional regulators