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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-15 Daily Xml
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LAND AGENTS

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (14:46): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question about registered land agents.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: In recent months there has been a dramatic increase in the number of first home buyers into the market. These first home buyers are relatively inexperienced in the process of purchasing a property and I am sure are grateful for the new consumer protection measures that were implemented in the Land Agents Act and the subsequent regulations last year. I understand that new provisions included on-the-spot fines for agents who were unable to produce their registration card when requested to do so by an OCBA officer. In addition to this, section 6(1) of the Land Agents Act requires that agents must be registered and that a person must not carry on business or hold himself or herself out as an agent unless registered as an agent under the act, with a maximum penalty of $20,000.

On 21 February, the minister stated in a media release that three $230 fines and 60 warning letters were issued last year for breaches that include advertising material not included in the agent's registration details. Four months later, only one additional fine and 57 additional warnings had been issued to agents, yet a recent count of the advertisements in the real estate section in Saturday's newspaper revealed 23 advertisements, or 5.5 per cent of the total advertisements, where no registered land agent number was provided. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is OCBA continuing to monitor the practice of individuals or companies purporting to be licensed agents, given that it was aware of the practice in February this year and there has been very little improvement in the past eight months?

2. What is the use of implementing consumer protection measures with harsh penalties if, in the majority of cases, OCBA is merely going to issue warnings?

3. What is the maximum penalty that has been applied for the offence of a person posing as a registered land agent?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (14:48): Indeed, the relatively new legislative changes were designed to protect consumers, in particular, but also improve the integrity of the real estate sector itself to improve public confidence in that sector. We believe that those reforms eventuated in a real win-win situation both for both agents and also for property owners and people selling and wanting to buy properties.

OCBA continues a monitoring program throughout the year and has various approaches to that monitoring strategy. At times its efforts can be directed into certain areas that may appear to be particularly problematic, so it might concentrate its efforts in one area rather than another at a particular time. It tends not to make those strategies and decisions public. It does not like to necessarily forewarn those people.

However, in saying that, I should stress that the agency went to great lengths to make sure that there was a good deal of education and explanation to the industry in the lead-up to those changes. I believe the industry was given ample opportunity to understand the changes and to make those changes within their organisations.

I assure the honourable member that OCBA continues to monitor, and it also does some routine things in terms of looking at advertisements and suchlike. It does respond to public complaints so, if the honourable member or any of his constituents believe that there is a particular problem somewhere, I encourage them to ring the agency and raise those concerns with it. I am confident that the agency will act on them.

In terms of the warnings, the agency works with a system of fines and warnings. The general principle is that once-off offenders tend to be issued with a warning and given an opportunity to make sure that they are informed and aware of what is required of them and are given an opportunity to improve their performance. Usually, the general rule is that repeat offenders are not tolerated and prosecutions are often sought in those cases. As I said, that is a general rule of thumb and is not an absolute policy position. However, OCBA tries to give organisations or agents an opportunity to lift their game before enforcing the full weight of the law. In terms of the maximum penalty, I will have to take that on notice and I am happy to bring back the information.

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