Conveyancers in Victoria: licence fees, insurance, audits and penalties

In this article

Written by

Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →

A conveyancer in Victoria works under a licence, and the licence is not a document that is granted once and then forgotten. It comes with a fee and a statement every year, an insurance policy that must never lapse, written rules of conduct, a duty to tell clients what the work will cost, and, where client money is held, an audit. Each of those has a deadline, and several have a penalty attached.

This guide sets out what Consumer Affairs Victoria, the state's consumer regulator, publishes about each of those obligations for the 2026-27 financial year, and what it has announced for the months ahead: a change to some fees on 25 November 2026 and annual training from 1 April 2027. It also says plainly where the regulator's pages stop, because some questions are answered only in the Conveyancers Act 2006 itself.

Consumer Affairs Victoria: fees and forms, professional indemnity insurance and auditing trust accounts pages, as updated in June and September 2026.

Who needs a licence, and who issues it

The law behind the licence is Victoria's Conveyancers Act 2006. The Victorian legislation website lists the Act as in force, with authorised version 022 effective from 9 September 2026. Carrying on business as a conveyancer without a licence is an offence under section 8 of that Act: Consumer Affairs Victoria's penalties page describes it as trading as an unlicensed conveyancer, says it applies to a corporation or a person, and gives the maximum penalty a court may impose as 1,200 penalty units and two years in jail.

The regulator's pages describe two kinds of licence, one for an individual and one for a company. Separate procedures cover mutual recognition of interstate and New Zealand licences, the sale of a business, and disqualification and permission.

Two bodies appear throughout. The Business Licensing Authority, usually shortened to BLA, is the body the pages name on licensing matters: it notifies a licensee whose annual statement and fee have not arrived, may suspend a licence over a missing trust audit, and is the authority a person must satisfy when applying again after a licence has ended. Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes the guidance; its Director receives trust account audit reports and its officers can issue infringement notices. Applications, changes of details, annual statements and audit lodgements all go through the regulator's online account system, called myCAV. Creating an account is free.

Who qualifies for a licence is the one part of the picture this guide cannot describe in detail. The eligibility rules, including the qualifications and experience required, sit in the Act and on the regulator's application pages, which could not be read for this article. The closing section lists what remains open.

What the licence costs in 2026-27

Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes its conveyancer fees by financial year. The schedule for 2026-27, on a page last updated on 30 June 2026, separates the fee for lodging an application from the first annual licence fee, and charges a company more than an individual at each step. The application fee for an individual licence is shown as exempt from GST.

A worked example shows what the first year comes to. Assume an individual applies during 2026-27 and the licence is granted: the application fee of A$308.80 plus the first annual licence fee of A$1,040.00 gives A$1,348.80. On the same assumptions a company pays A$521.40 plus A$1,052.40, or A$1,573.80. The example uses only the two fees in the schedule and leaves out insurance premiums, which the fees page does not price.

The schedule carries several smaller fees. An exemption from appointing a licensed branch manager costs A$318.60, and so does an exemption to employ a disqualified person. An extension of time to lodge the annual statement costs A$156.60. A late fee of A$138.70 applies when the annual statement and fee have not been received by the licence anniversary date. A Registrar's certificate of the contents of the Register costs A$144.50. The forms that deal with trust accounts, covered further down, carry no fee.

These amounts are scheduled to change during the financial year. Consumer Affairs Victoria announced on a page dated 28 May 2026 that modest fee changes will apply to some conveyancer licences from 25 November 2026 and that some conveyancer fees will decrease. It attributes the decrease to efficiency gains since fees were last set in 2018, citing more digital services and streamlined processing, and names the instrument as the Conveyancers (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2026. The new amounts were not on the fees page at its 30 June 2026 update, so the table above holds only until that date for the fees concerned.

The annual statement and the anniversary date

A Victorian conveyancer's licence is kept alive by one recurring act: lodging an annual statement and paying the annual fee. The deadline is personal to each licence. It is the licence anniversary date, not the end of the financial year or the calendar year.

According to the fees and forms page, the regulator sends the annual statement by email or post within the six weeks before the anniversary date. The statement and the fee must then be lodged by the anniversary date, through myCAV. If they are not received, the BLA notifies the licensee through the same account.

Two paid routes exist for a licensee who cannot meet the date. One is to apply for an extension of time, at A$156.60 in 2026-27. The other is simply to lodge late and pay the late fee of A$138.70. As a worked example, assume an individual licensee whose statement and fee arrive after the anniversary date with no extension in place: the annual fee of A$1,040.00 plus the late fee of A$138.70 comes to A$1,178.70. A company in the same position pays A$1,052.40 plus A$138.70, or A$1,191.10.

Professional indemnity insurance: A$2 million at all times

The second condition a licence depends on is insurance. Consumer Affairs Victoria's insurance page, updated on 30 June 2026, says anyone carrying on a conveyancing business must have professional indemnity insurance, whether the business runs through a company, as a sole trader or as a partnership. In a partnership, each licensee must hold their own cover; one partner's policy does not stretch over the other.

The minimum is A$2 million of professional indemnity insurance, maintained at all times. The figure is set by a Ministerial Order made by the Minister for Consumer Affairs. The page does not break the amount into a limit per claim and a limit for the year, and it says nothing about cover after a business closes, so those points have to be read in the order or the policy itself.

Employees are treated differently from licensees. The page says an employee is covered by the employer's insurance only if the employer is a licensed conveyancer, and not if the employer is an Australian legal practitioner.

The arrangement is a single managed policy. Applicants for a licence, and licensees renewing their cover, must arrange it through the one insurance broker named on the regulator's page, and the Australian Institute of Conveyancers (Victorian Division) manages the policy with that broker and provides support and education.

The consequence of a gap is immediate. The page says a conveyancer's licence is automatically suspended or cancelled if the conveyancer is not covered by professional indemnity insurance, and that the BLA must be notified immediately if insurance lapses or is cancelled. Insurance details are kept up to date in myCAV.

When a licence is suspended or cancelled

Consumer Affairs Victoria's page on suspension and cancellation, last updated on 11 October 2023, describes outcomes that follow from an event without anyone having to decide them.

Suspension has two triggers. A company or individual licence is suspended if the annual statement and fees are not lodged, or if the licensee stops holding, or being covered by, the prescribed professional indemnity insurance. If neither is put right, the licence is cancelled automatically 12 months after the suspension.

A second group of events cancels a licence automatically with no suspension first. The page lists them as the licensee becoming:

• an insolvent under administration, for an individual;
• disqualified under the Legal Profession Act 2004;
• a represented person under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1986, for an individual;
• externally administered, for a company;
• subject to an order disqualifying them from carrying on a conveyancing business;
• a director of a company that is disqualified under the Conveyancers Act 2006.

A cancelled or surrendered licence does not come back on request. The page says cancellation or surrender does not automatically entitle a person to regain the licence: an individual who applies again must satisfy the BLA that they meet the eligibility criteria in force at that time, not those that applied when the first licence was granted.

The rules of professional conduct

Beyond the licence conditions, a Victorian conveyancer works under written conduct rules. The regulator's page says conveyancers must understand their obligations under two statutes: the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 and the Conveyancers Act 2006. The rules of professional conduct themselves are set out in regulations. The page names the Conveyancers (Professional Conduct) Regulations 2018 as in effect from 26 May 2018; the same page, last updated on 5 December 2022, also refers to the Conveyancers (Professional Conduct and Trust Account and General) Regulations 2008 as the current regulations.

The duties fall into three groups. The first concerns how the work is done. A conveyancer must act honestly, fairly and professionally with all parties in a transaction, exercise reasonable skill, care and diligence, and comply with fiduciary obligations. Instructions may be accepted only where the conveyancer is competent to do the work and reasonably expects to complete it promptly. The conveyancer must act in the client's best interests and follow the client's instructions, unless doing so would be unlawful or contrary to the Act or the regulations.

The second group concerns communication and records. The client must be kept regularly updated on progress. Oral instructions that are not trivial must be confirmed in writing as soon as possible. Written records must be kept of instructions, of advice given, and of relevant telephone calls and enquiries. Undertakings, once given, must be honoured, and a conveyancer must not enter into an undertaking that needs a third party's cooperation to be fulfilled.

The third group concerns conflicts. A conveyancer who acts for more than one party to a transaction must disclose it on the prescribed form, and the same applies to receiving or paying a commission. If a conflict arises between those parties, the conveyancer must cease acting for all of them, not just one. A conveyancer who runs another business must make sure it does not impair or conflict with duties to clients, must keep its records and accounts separate, and must stop it if it conflicts with clients' interests.

The prohibitions are short. A conveyancer must not misinform, mislead or deceive; must not use or disclose confidential client information unless the client authorises it or the law permits it; must not falsely represent independence; and must not use advertisements, stationery or business cards that are false or misleading.

The rules also govern how a file leaves a practice. Accepted work must be completed unless otherwise agreed or unless the conveyancer or the client ends the service. When a client directs in writing that documents and information go to another conveyancer or to a law practice, the transfer must happen within 14 days, provided the conveyancer's account for work already done has been paid. When a conveyancer hands a business or clients' work in progress to another conveyancer or law practice, that also happens within 14 days of written notice to the client, unless the client instructs otherwise.

Loan and security documents, such as a mortgage a borrower is asked to sign, are where the page comes closest to marking the limits of the role. A conveyancer who advises on such documents must give competent and independent advice. The conveyancer must state that they do not profess to give financial advice, must recommend that the person consult an accountant or a financial counsellor, and must obtain the borrower's written acknowledgement of the advice given.

Two things are barred outright. The conveyancer must not act for the lender in the transaction to which the loan or security document relates. And the conveyancer must not advise a proposed signatory whose interests conflict with the conveyancer's own or with those of another client.

What the conduct page does not provide is a general list of the legal work a conveyancer may and may not do compared with a lawyer. That boundary is a matter for the Conveyancers Act 2006, whose text was not read for this guide, so it is not described here. The page's own signals are indirect: files may be transferred to a law practice as well as to another conveyancer, and disqualification under the Legal Profession Act 2004 ends a conveyancer's licence.

Costs disclosure: written, and before the work starts

A client of a Victorian conveyancer is entitled to know the cost in writing. Consumer Affairs Victoria's costs disclosure page, last updated on 12 October 2023, says a conveyancer must give clients written disclosure of all costs related to the conveyancing work, before or at the time the client retains the conveyancer, or as soon as possible afterwards.

The disclosure must contain:

1. the amount of the costs, if it is known;
2. if the amount is not known, the basis on which the costs will be calculated;
3. how and when the client will be invoiced;
4. the client's options for resolving a dispute;
5. any other prescribed information.

The dispute options are specific. The disclosure must tell the client that they may complain to the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria under Part 6.2 of the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012, and that they may apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, known as VCAT, under Chapter 7 of the same Act.

The regulator publishes a costs disclosure pro forma that a practice may use.

Trust money: the audit and the records

A conveyancer who holds client money holds it under trust account rules, which Consumer Affairs Victoria sets out across six pages: the difference between trust, transit and controlled moneys; opening and closing a trust account; receiving trust money; payments from the account; accounting for trust money; and auditing. This guide read the auditing page, updated on 30 September 2026, and the related penalties.

Trust records must be audited by an approved auditor each financial year, unless the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria has agreed otherwise, and the accounts must be kept in a way that allows what the page calls a proper and convenient audit. An approved auditor must be a member of CPA Australia, the Institute of Public Accountants or the chartered accountants' institute, must meet the requirements to practise as a public accountant, and must hold a degree in commerce, accounting, business studies or a similar field from an Australian university or a foreign university approved by the Director. A different auditor may be used each year.

The deadline runs from the day the report arrives. A copy of the auditor's report, titled Independent Assurance Report to the Licensed Conveyancer, must be lodged with the Director through myCAV within 10 business days of the conveyancer receiving it. Failing to lodge it is an offence carrying up to 120 penalty units, and the page adds that the BLA may suspend a licence where trust accounts have not been audited by an approved auditor or the report has not been lodged in time.

Two situations remove the need for an audit. None is required where the business received only transit money during the audit period. And where a trust account did not hold or manage trust funds for the whole audit period, no audit is needed, but the conveyancer must still confirm that through myCAV.

The auditor must report to the Director as soon as practicable on finding a deficiency in any trust account or trust ledger account, a failure to pay or deliver trust money, or any other failure to comply with the Act or the regulations, and must report without delay if the records cannot be conveniently and properly audited. A notice of trust account irregularity form is among the trust forms the regulator provides without charge, together with forms to open and close a trust account and to cease receiving and holding trust money.

On how long records must be kept, two of the regulator's pages differ. The auditing page says at least seven years, in a permanent form. The penalties page, describing section 80 of the Act, says six years or the period set by regulation. The two pages are not reconciled here, and this guide does not say which period governs.

Penalties and the 2026-27 penalty unit

The penalties are expressed in penalty units. Consumer Affairs Victoria's penalties page for conveyancers, updated on 30 June 2026, gives the value as A$209.10 for 2026-27 and lists four offences under the Conveyancers Act 2006 with the maximum a court may impose.

The page gives the penalties in units only; the dollar column is this guide's own arithmetic, each number of units multiplied by the 2026-27 unit value of A$209.10, and is not a figure the regulator prints. Section 78 applies where the deficiency is caused without reasonable excuse.

The conduct rules carry their own, smaller scale. Since 26 May 2018, according to the conduct page, breaches of the rules on false or misleading advertising, undertakings, ending a service and transferring work or a business, conducting another business, and advising on loan or security documents carry a fine of up to 20 penalty units for an individual and 120 for a company. By this guide's arithmetic at the 2026-27 unit value of A$209.10, that is A$4,182 for an individual and A$25,092 for a company; the page itself gives units only.

On who imposes them, the penalties page says monetary penalties are imposed by a court once charges are proven, and that Consumer Affairs Victoria officers can issue infringement notices. It does not list infringement amounts.

Annual training scheduled from 1 April 2027

The next change to the licence is already dated. Consumer Affairs Victoria announced, on its page of 28 May 2026, that from 1 April 2027 conveyancers must complete continuing professional development, or CPD, every year to maintain their licence.

The announcement fixes the structure but not the content. The CPD will consist of mandatory activities determined by the Business Licensing Authority and will include written assessments. A licence may be cancelled if the CPD requirements are not met. The rule is made by the Conveyancers (Qualifications and Experience) Amendment Regulations 2026 and follows two rounds of public consultation, in late 2025 and early 2026.

The page does not give the number of hours, the dates of the CPD year or the topics. It says more detail will be published closer to the start dates.

Complaints, disputes and what remains open

For a client with a grievance, the first stop is the practice itself. Consumer Affairs Victoria's guidance on complaint handling, last updated on 8 March 2023, is addressed to the business: appoint a complaints officer, acknowledge a written complaint promptly and ideally within 48 hours, send a written response even where the matter has been discussed by telephone, and review complaints monthly or quarterly. Where a complaint cannot be resolved, the guidance is to seek help from an independent third party. These are recommendations on that page, not deadlines with penalties. Beyond the practice lie the two routes every costs disclosure must name: the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria and VCAT.

Several parts of the subject are not answered by the pages read for this guide, and are left open here:

• the eligibility criteria for an individual and for a company licence, including qualifications and experience;
• the Act's definition of conveyancing work and the general boundary with the work of a lawyer;
• the disciplinary process before VCAT: its grounds, the orders the tribunal may make and any maximum fine;
• the per-claim terms of the A$2 million insurance requirement;
• the fees that apply from 25 November 2026 and the content of the CPD programme.

Each of these is a matter for the Conveyancers Act 2006, its regulations or announcements the regulator has said are still to come.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →