The continuing professional development requirement for the real estate industry will be reduced to five points
The annual continuing professional development (CPD) requirement for the WA real estate industry will be reduced by half to five points starting from 2026, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.
This change is part of a new self-funded model announced by the WA state government. REIWA CEO Cath Hart (pictured above) said that the announcement brings certainty for both consumers and practitioners.
“Our surveys of public sentiment over many years have repeatedly confirmed that WA consumers were concerned about proposals to remove CPD requirements for real estate practitioners,” Hart said. “The majority of REIWA members surveyed earlier this year also expressed their overwhelming support for an ongoing requirement for CPD in order to maintain professional standards, protect consumers and enhance the reputation of the industry as a whole.
“Our advocacy to the government has been for a CPD model which maintains industry standards in a way that is appropriate in regard to the obligations and requirements of practitioners, with a particular focus on ensuring CPD content is contemporary and relevant for the key issues being faced by industry.”
The government's reminder for WA agents to complete their 2023 CPD before Dec. 31 revealed that 67% of licensed real estate agents and 69% of registered sales representatives and property managers had not yet completed any CPD this year.
Hart stressed the importance of enforcing industry standards, given the high expectations the community has for real estate practitioners.
“There has been ongoing uncertainty around the future of the CPD program for many years now with erroneous suggestions that it could be scrapped altogether – likely a significant contributor to the number of practitioners who haven’t started their CPD yet,” she said. “Today’s announcement gives absolute certainty about what their obligations are and I expect we will see an increase in CPD completions between now and the end of 2023.”
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The government has confirmed that it will focus on enforcing compliance with the existing CPD regime until the new program starts, with the current requirements remaining in place for 2024.
Currently, real estate agents are required to accumulate 10 CPD points each year, consisting of seven self-funded elective points and three mandatory points funded by the government. Under the proposed changes, the subsidy for CPD would be discontinued from January 2026, and licensees would be required to self-fund their five CPD points, REIWA reported.
An independent public survey conducted by iSentia in September 2023 found that 89% of the Western Australian community expressed at least some concern about the potential removal of professional development for real estate agents.
Under the proposed changes, from 2026, Consumer Protection would no longer administer CPD, the distinction between mandatory and elective training would be removed, and the total points would be reduced to five for both real estate and settlement agents.
The WA government also recently extended land tax exemptions and announced the formation of a dedicated Housing Supply Unit.
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