9 December 2020

Changes to Compulsory Professional Development program

In July 2020, bulletin 225 outlined recent changes to the Compulsory Professional Development (CPD) program. These include the introduction of a standalone provision and associated penalties for non-compliance of the program in the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 (the Act). 

From 1 January 2021, enforcement of these changes will commence, as well as the introduction of additional changes to the program.

Annual check of CPD points

The CPD cycle has always been a period of 12 months from 1 January to 31 December. In each CPD cycle, licensees and registrants must collect at least 10 points from approved CPD activities before the 31 December deadline. These educational requirements are now in the Act.

Starting 1 January 2021, Consumer Protection will check your CPD points for the previous CPD cycle. These checks will continue to occur at the start of each new calendar year.

The approved registered training organisation (RTO) conducting the CPD activity will provide us with details of your CPD points. However, we may contact you for additional information.

Outstanding CPD points

If you do not obtain all of the required points by 31 December, you will be non-compliant with your CPD obligations under the Act. You will need to complete the activities to obtain the outstanding points as soon as possible. You will also need to obtain the CPD points for the current CPD cycle.

Example

Real estate agent Bert obtained three of the 2020 CPD cycle’s elective points before 31 December 2020. From 1 January 2021, Bert must take immediate action to enrol in CPD activities that will provide him with the outstanding three mandatory and four elective points for 2020. Additionally, before 31 December 2021, Bert must enrol in approved activities to obtain the three mandatory and seven elective points for the 2021 CPD cycle.

For each day that you continue to be non-compliant with your CPD obligations, you remain in breach of the requirements under the Act.

Consumer Protection will take enforcement action for breaches of the law. This may include disciplinary or prosecution action, where a penalty of up to $5,000 may be applied.

If you have not taken action to complete your outstanding points then it will be open to the Commissioner for Consumer Protection to address the ongoing nature of the offence by proceeding with further prosecution or disciplinary action, which can include seeking a suspension or cancellation of your licence or registration.

Completing CPD ensures that you understand your duties and obligations. If you do not, the Commissioner may consider that you do not fully understand your duties and obligations under real estate laws. This may result in the refusal of your renewal application.

Paying for mandatory activities

Previously, individuals could obtain outstanding CPD points during a subsequent CPD cycle – such as completing 2019 CPD points during 2020 – with Consumer Protection paying for the cost of the mandatory training packages.

From 1 January 2021, Consumer Protection will no longer subsidise the catch up mandatory CPD training. RTOs will facilitate the delivery of the online mandatory CPD training packages so you can complete any outstanding points for the previous CPD cycle. The RTO will require you to pay for the training as part of the registration process.

This means that if you do not complete the mandatory activities by the 31 December deadline, you can now expect to incur the cost of completing the outstanding CPD activities. This is on top of the potential penalties that may result from the enforcement action we take.

If you are no longer active in the industry, you may wish to consider surrendering your registration or triennial certificate.

Future law changes

Amendments to the Real Estate and Business Agents (General) Regulations 1979 in early 2021 will allow Consumer Protection to issue a $1,000 infringement notice for failing to obtain CPD points.

The amendments will also clarify the obligations of agents with a licence on hold. Even if you place your licence on hold, you will still need to complete the mandatory activities during each CPD cycle. This is already Consumer Protection's policy, but will be clearly set out in the regulations.

More information

Further information about CPD is available on our website. If you have any queries about the CPD program please email or phone the Consumer Protection Advice Line on 1300 304 054.

COVID-19 rent laws - Practical advice for property managers

On 18 November 2020, our webinar on COVID-19 rent laws saw Trish Blake present information and provide advice to property managers on COVID-19 rent laws.

To access the 44 minute recording of the webinar, please register your details using the password, COVID19pm1.

2020 CPD activity - Q&A session on COVID-19 rent laws

Due to the overwhelming interest in the first rent laws webinar, Trish Blake will present a special question and answer session for property managers on COVID-19 rent laws.

The session will provide attendees with one elective CPD point for the 2020 cycle!

The session will occur on Monday 14 December 2020 from 1.30pm to 2.30pm (AWST).

You can register for a spot at the session and review information about the event.

To access the event material, enter the password, COVID-19Q&A, towards the bottom of the event's information page.

As part of the registration process, you can submit your questions before the event. This will allow us to organise questions into categories and ensure there are no duplicates. Please also refrain from asking questions that were addressed during the previous webinar.

Be sure to sign up as soon as possible as places are limited.