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Simon Parker
Real Estate Institute CEOs have rejected the way in which the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has requested industry feedback on draft national licensing rules.
Institutes from Queensland, the ACT, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have boycotted COAG’s “survey monkey” which asks for feedback on the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS), which was released last week.
REIA is concerned about the pre-determined nature of such an approach.
“The survey monkey [online-based survey tool] is nothing more than push-polling and intends to coach responses,” said REIA president Pamela Bennett. “It doesn’t allow for any alternative under national licensing to what the RIS has set forward and further restrains our response to the proposed new regulations and the detail contained within these”.
“We vehemently contest the dumbing down of standards for our profession and the abolishing of compulsory professional development will leave both agents and consumers worse off,” Ms Bennett added.
“Reducing qualifications for real estate agents from Diploma to Certificate IV will deny them vital knowledge about running a professional real estate business.
“We’re stunned that consumer benefits haven’t been considered in the quantitative analysis outlined in the RIS. Choosing where and how we live is a fundamental and crucial decision in anyone’s life. Shouldn’t it be handled by a highly qualified professional?”
REIA is calling for the government to immediately release the detail of the proposed legislation.
“How is our profession able to respond appropriately and fully without seeing the detail,” Ms Bennett added.
