• Mandatory professional development to continue for WA real estate and settlement industries
• Ongoing education and training to maintain faith and confidence in industry participants
• Agents to administer and self-fund program

The Cook Government has again thrown its support behind mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for everyone employed in the real estate and settlement sectors to ensure high standards are maintained.

First introduced in 2011, the CPD program aims to increase the knowledge, skills and professionalism of real estate and settlement agents by delivering ongoing education on relevant and necessary topics.

Earlier this year, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (Consumer Protection) undertook a comprehensive industry consultation on CPD, which revealed widespread support for continuing the mandatory program but with certain changes to ensure the program is sustainable.

Under the State Government proposal, Consumer Protection will continue to support CPD, however, they will no longer directly administer the delivery of the program. Instead, property industry licensees will be required to self-fund their own CPD activities as occurs in other industries.

Currently, real estate agents are required to accumulate 10 CPD points, and settlement agents six CPD points from a combination of mandatory and elective training activities each year. Under proposed changes, the number of points required would be reduced becoming five points annually for both real estate and settlement agents.

A 24-month transition period is proposed from January 2024, to allow sufficient time for industry participants to adjust to self-funding, and make changes to their CPD activities to accommodate the new requirements.

Recommendations are contained in the review report, which is available for viewing on the Consumer Protection website.

Comments attributed to Commerce Minister Sue Ellery:

"Buying a home is the biggest investment decision many Western Australians will ever make, so it is vital industry participants are as informed and well-educated as possible.

"It is pleasing to see broad sector support for a program that protects consumers and promotes consumer confidence in the real estate and settlement industries. 

"Consumer Protection will continue to support the industry by determining broad CPD subject areas, providing educational materials and the Commissioner to retain the power to specify mandatory topics or activities on an ad-hoc basis."