The Office of Regulatory Services is responsible for licensing and registration of agents and salespeople under the Agents Act 2003 (the Act). The Act provides for licensing and conduct regulation of business, employment, real estate, stock & station and travel agents. The Act also provides for registration of business, real estate and stock & station salespeople.
The Act requires licensed real estate agent licensees and registered salespersons to undertake continuing professional development (CPD) as a condition of renewing their licences. The CPD must be completed within the twelve months of the licence (i.e. for agents between 1 July and 30 June of the year of the licence, and salespeople 1 November – 31 October of the year of the registration).
It is a condition that the agent completes 12 points of continuing professional development in the 12 month period prior to the renewal of the licence for each year; and maintains a log and other records of continuing professional development. This information must be produced to the Commissioner for Fair Trading within 28 days of the request being made.
Real estate agents who hold a conditional licence to sell land by way of auction are not required to undertake continuing professional development.
Previously, agents and salespeople were required to provide evidence of completing CPD with the application for renewal. This is no longer the case however, agents and salespeople are required to make a statement to the Commissioner for Fair Trading that they have complied with the requirements and keep evidence of the CPD for at least three years. The Commissioner for Fair Trading will periodically request proof of completion of CPD from agents and salespeople and if this information is not provided the person’s licence or registration will be cancelled.
There are three categories of learning in relation to which points may be obtained for continuing professional development. When a licensee or salesperson is required to obtain 12 points of continuing professional development in a twelve month period, the person must obtain learning in any combination of at least two of the categories set out below, of which one must be category 3.
Category 1 involves undertaking self-paced activity with a stated learning outcome. Typical examples of these types of activities include attending seminars, conferences and forums, watching videos, and on the job learning. The content of the learning must be related to the work activities of the licensee or registered salesperson and provide an educational outcome. On the job learning for the purposes of fulfilling the continuing professional development requirements will only be accepted in the case where a person undertakes a new project and extends their competency base. Functions the individual routinely performs as part of his/her employment are not claimable.
Category 1 is calculated at ½ point per hour of activity and a maximum of 2 points can be claimed under this category.
Category 2 includes activities which do not require formal assessment but are delivered interactively. Typical examples of these activities include workshops, seminars, conferences, and forums where the learner is required to participate and the use of web-based tools and CD Roms where the learner is required to input responses. This category also includes workshops or seminars organised and delivered by professionally qualified people including, but not limited to, lawyers, accountants, auditors, valuers or other renowned experts in a relevant field.
Category 2 points are calculated at the rate of one point per hour of the activity and may only be considered category 2 where the person delivering the training is competent to deliver the training, generally considered as someone competent to deliver category 3 training.
Category 3 includes units of competency which require formal assessment. The learner must be assessed as competent by a registered training organisation to be entitled to claim the relevant points from this category. This should be one or more units of competency which contribute to a recognised qualification or learning pathway relevant to the property industry.
Category 3 points are calculated at the rate of eight points per unit of competency.
If a person does more than 12 CPD points in a year, surplus points may be carried forward to the next period. However, a maximum of 11 points can be carried forward and at least a part of the CPD completed in the next year must be category 3.
Licensees and salespeople are required to keep a log of continuing professional development which includes:
If all CPD completed in the year is under Category 3, a statement of attainment, qualification or certificate from the registered training organisation is sufficient. These must be kept for at least three years.
When a licensee or salesperson is unable to complete CPD in the period the Commissioner for Fair Trading may waive the requirement for the person to complete some or all CPD for that year. This is generally only granted where the person can show extenuating circumstances that identify why it was not possible for the person to complete the CPD.
Being unaware of CPD requirements or waiting too long to book a training package are not considered extenuating circumstances and if this is the reason for not completing CPD it is likely that the licence will not be able to be renewed.
When a person is licensed for the first time, they do not need to undertake CPD for the first year of their licence or registration if they obtained their qualification in that year’s licence or registration period. However, if a person applies through mutual recognition, or obtained a qualification prior to that CPD period, they must undertake at least 1 point per month of their initial licence.
CPD must be based on A.C.T. law, meaning that it is not possible for a person to achieve category 3 points while concurrently satisfying another jurisdiction’s CPD requirements. Statements of attainment must indicate that the training was relevant to A.C.T. law or it cannot be accepted.
Training may be based on, but is not limited to, the following units of competency from the Property Services Training Package:
Training may be based on, but is not limited to, the following units of competency from the Business Services Training Package:
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