Who may sell property in Western Australia: certificates and registration

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Kooky

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

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Every sale, lease and business transfer handled by an agency in Western Australia rests on a piece of paper most clients never see. Before anyone can negotiate the sale or lease of a home, or the sale of a business, for a fee, the state's Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 asks who they are, what training they hold and who answers for their work. The answer decides whether a person may be paid at all, and getting it wrong is an offence that carries fines running to six figures.

Western Australia licenses the agent, but the right to trade comes from a separate triennial certificate. Salespeople and property managers do not hold licences: they register, and they always work under someone else. This guide sets out the three roles the Act recognises, what each person must hold, the qualifications behind each, the fees on the department's schedule in 2026, how renewal and lapsing work, the continuing professional development rules for the current year, the supervision duty, and the penalties for working without the right paperwork.

Property industry licensing fees, Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety, schedule updated 1 July 2026, exclusive of GST; CPD rules from Consumer Protection, September 2026.

One Act, three ways to work

The Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 covers both property and businesses, which is why the titles in the system carry the words "real estate and business". Licences and registrations are granted by the Commissioner the Act names, and applications and renewals are handled by the Licensing Services team of the state's Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety. The continuing professional development rules are published by Consumer Protection.

The Act sets up three working positions. The first is the licensed real estate and business agent. The department's fee schedule prices licences for individuals and for partnerships or companies, and the Act requires a current triennial certificate before any of them may trade. The licensee is the business: it holds the written appointments from clients, it is the one entitled to the commission, and it answers for whom it employs.

The second is the registered sales representative. A representative is an individual who negotiates sales, leases or business transfers on behalf of a licensed agent, or of a registered developer, but who does not hold a licence. The department's guide says representatives must be registered and must work under the supervision of a Western Australian licensed agent or a registered developer.

The third position is the property manager. There is no separate property manager licence. Property managers register as sales representatives, under a version of the registration limited to property management. The department's own pages group them under the heading of sales representatives, including property managers.

Settlement agents and the trust account rules are outside the scope of this guide.

The licence and the triennial certificate

The split between a licence and a certificate is the feature to understand first. Under section 30 of the Act, holding a licence on its own does not give a right to carry on business. That right comes from the triennial certificate, which section 31 grants for a period of three years and allows to be renewed for further periods of three years each.

In practice the two are applied for together the first time, and the department's fee schedule prices them as one item: a new licence and triennial certificate. After that, it is the certificate that is renewed every three years. At each renewal the Commissioner must again be satisfied of the same matters that were checked at the start, including character and fitness.

Section 26 is the core prohibition. A person must not carry on business as a real estate or business agent, or hold themselves out as one by any means, unless licensed and holding a current triennial certificate. Section 39 adds that a person may not hold more than one licence or certificate, and that letting someone else use a licence or certificate is itself an offence.

What an agent must show to be licensed

Section 27 of the Act lists what the Commissioner must be satisfied of before granting an individual licence. The applicant must be at least 18 years old, of good character and repute, and a fit and proper person. They must have sufficient material and financial resources to carry on business, and they must understand the duties the Act imposes on agents. Being qualified under the first schedule of the Act forms part of the fit and proper test.

On qualifications, the department's application guide lists the routes it accepts. They include a Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University in one of its property majors, a Master of Property or a Graduate Diploma in Property with additional Certificate IV units, and the Diploma of Property (Agency Management), in its current CPP51122 version or the earlier CPP51119, also with additional Certificate IV units. The older Diploma of Property Services (Agency Management), CPP50307, is listed as well. The guide points to the Real Estate and Business Agents (General) Regulations 1979 for the full requirements.

Training is only half of the test. Applicants must show practical experience, and the department asks for a current résumé covering at least two years of employment history, a spreadsheet of the transactions the applicant has worked on, and two business references, each covering at least two years of full-time experience, one of them from outside the current workplace.

The guide is explicit about what counts. Observational, administrative or purely theoretical experience is not enough. The Commissioner looks at the volume, nature, complexity and recency of the transactions, and the experience must relate directly to negotiating real estate or business transactions.

Character is checked through a police check less than three months old and a set of questions about past convictions, pending proceedings, reprimands and fines. The Commissioner may ask for an interview. Giving false or misleading information on the form is an offence with a penalty of up to A$20,000, according to the department. The department says applications typically take four to six weeks to process.

Three kinds of registration

Representatives choose between three forms of registration, and the choice follows the training completed. All three are built from the same national qualification, the Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice, CPP41419. What changes is how many of its units the person has finished.

Seven core units are common to every path. A sales registration adds three core units of its own, for ten in all, and a property management registration adds five, for twelve. Unrestricted registration combines both sets, which is how it reaches fifteen core units.

The electives, for those taking sales or unrestricted registration, are drawn from a short list that leans towards commercial work: appraising commercial property, completing a commercial sale or lease, maintaining vendor and lessor networks, and managing client relationships.

Two other routes lead to unrestricted registration without the full Certificate IV. A person who holds, or has completed the qualifications for, an agent's licence qualifies. So does someone who has held a sales representative certificate of registration for at least three of the past five years, or held a triennial certificate within the last three years. A representative who started on a restricted registration can complete bridging units to move up to unrestricted registration, and the department has a separate process for removing a condition.

Applying for registration

Section 47 of the Act sets the test for a representative. The Commissioner must be satisfied that the applicant is at least 18, of good character and repute, fit and proper, and understands the duties the Act imposes. Fitness includes holding the prescribed qualification. The department's application process follows from that test.

The character questions are the same as for agents: convictions, pending proceedings, reprimands and fines must be disclosed, the Commissioner may call the applicant in for an interview, and false or misleading answers carry a penalty of up to A$20,000. The department emails the applicant once the registration is finalised.

Fees in 2026

The department publishes one schedule for the property industry. The version in force was updated on 1 July 2026. All amounts are exclusive of GST. For a new application, the total includes a fidelity fund contribution alongside the licence fee and, for agents, an application fee.

Inside those totals, a new individual agent pays A$150 to the fidelity fund, A$108 as an application fee and A$1,160 as the licence fee. A partnership or company pays the same fidelity and application amounts with a licence fee of A$1,520. For a new representative, the total of A$342 is made of A$45 for the fidelity fund and A$297 for the registration itself.

Applicants from other Australian states and from New Zealand who come in under mutual recognition pay the same as a new applicant: A$1,418 for an individual agent, A$342 for a representative. A replacement certificate costs A$38, for agents and representatives alike.

Renewal, lapsing and holding a licence

A sales representative's certificate of registration runs for three years, and so does an agent's triennial certificate. The department sends courtesy reminders by email. Its renewal guide for representatives says the application should go in at least four weeks before the expiry date.

Renewal brings its own checks. A fresh police check, dated within the past three months and in the person's full legal name, is required. A representative must also be employed by a Western Australian licensee or registered developer, either when applying or on renewal.

The department's guide sets out what happens when a representative's registration runs out before renewal. A late fee applies. An application lodged within 28 days after expiry takes effect from the day after expiry, so the registration continues without a gap. One lodged between 28 days and 12 months late starts from the date the renewal is granted, unless the Commissioner accepts that there was reasonable cause and backdates it. Between 12 and 24 months late, the new period starts no earlier than 28 days after lodgement, again unless reasonable cause is shown. After 24 months, the guide says, a registration can no longer be renewed.

For agents, the schedule also lists a licence holding fee of A$271. Section 30 of the Act explains what is at stake: a licence is continuous, but a licensee who holds no current triennial certificate and does not pay the prescribed fee ceases to be licensed.

CPD: five points a year

Continuing professional development is compulsory for both agents and representatives. The Act gives it teeth: sections 40B and 50C require licensees and representatives to meet the educational requirements set by regulation, each with a penalty of up to A$5,000.

Consumer Protection's CPD page sets out the current rules. Everyone must complete five points a year. One point is earned for each hour of training, and longer activities earn points for their full duration. At least one point must come from each of three subject areas: legal requirements, ethics or professional responsibility, and professional skills.

The Commissioner can set mandatory topics, but none have been set for the 2026 year. The page notes that catch-up may be available for the mandatory units set in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Points cannot be carried over from one year to the next.

Only training from an approved CPD provider counts. Courses focused on promoting an agency, developing business, sales technique or personal development do not qualify, and in-house programmes are no longer accepted. People in remote and regional areas can complete their points online through an approved provider.

New licence and registration holders complete a reduced number of points depending on the month they started. Someone licensed in April or May owes the full five; June or July, four; August or September, three; October or November, two; December, one. Those who start in January, February or March owe none for that year.

Interstate agents working in Western Australia under automatic deemed registration do not complete Western Australian CPD; they follow the rules of the state or territory that issued their licence. Those who obtained a Western Australian licence through mutual recognition must complete it here. Exemptions, total or partial, are possible only in exceptional circumstances, with supporting evidence, and only if the application is made during the CPD year concerned.

Records matter as much as the training. Participants must keep their records for four years and produce them on request, and each record should show the person's name and licence number, the activity, its date, how it was delivered, its duration and points, and the provider. Providers must issue a completion record within 14 days. Consumer Protection says incomplete CPD can lead to an infringement notice, prosecution, suspension or cancellation, or an inability to renew.

Supervision: who answers for whom

Registration does not let a representative work alone. Under sections 44 and 45 of the Act, a person who is not a licensee may act as a real estate or business sales representative only while holding a current certificate of registration and acting for a licensee or, in real estate, for a registered developer.

The Act also ties each representative to an identifiable principal. Section 44 makes it an offence for a registered real estate representative to claim to work for, or act for, a licensee or developer that is not their employer, principal or partner. Section 45 sets the same rule for business sales representatives and the licensees they act for. A representative cannot trade on the name of an agency that has not taken them on.

The duty runs the other way too. Section 54 says an agent must not employ anyone as a sales representative, or let anyone carry out a representative's functions in the business, unless that person is a licensee with a current triennial certificate or a registered representative. The section applies the same rule to developers for real estate work. The agency that takes someone on is therefore answerable for checking that the registration is in place.

Penalties for working without a licence

The fines in the Act are graded by the seriousness of the breach. The heaviest apply to trading as an agent without a licence and certificate, and to lending a licence to someone else.

The same A$25,000 penalty under sections 44 and 45 applies whether the work concerns real estate or the sale of a business, and to anyone who holds themselves out as a representative without being registered.

The financial consequences go beyond the fine. Section 60 says an agent is not entitled to commission unless, at the time the services were provided, it was licensed, held a current triennial certificate and held a valid written appointment. That appointment must state clearly the services to be provided and how the commission will be calculated. Commission received in breach of the section can be recovered as a civil debt, on top of the A$5,000 penalty for demanding or receiving it.

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 →