Ian Gilfillan: Australian Democrats in the SA Parliament

	Extract from Hansard Legislative Council 5 June 2001

Ian Gilfillan Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council		Parliament Index 2001 Autumn Sitting Index Browse by Subject Search all Democrats material About the SA Parliament Hansard on line
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The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: The implication of the Attorney-General's briefing on accreditation is that, although there is a recommendation that there be an accredited course and that the accreditation to act as a land agent will be just as onerous on a lawyer as it would on any other person applying to enter the profession, the anomaly is that, as I understand the briefing, there is currently no course in place which has been accredited by the Commissioner for Consumer and Business Affairs and, therefore, no lawyer is able to apply to get the accreditation.

I will read into Hansard the summary of Briefing Note; Subject: Land Agents Act 1994 NCP Review, Implementation of Supplementary Report Recommendation, as follows:

· The Commissioner for Consumer Affairs does not establish or assist in the establishment of courses approved under registration and licensing Acts, but rather approves courses on application;

· No course has to date been submitted to the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs seeking to implement the recommendation of the Supplementary Report. It is therefore not possible to provide any detail other than to note that the Supplementary Report expressly identifies the skills which are required to be covered in each of the areas it nominated as lacking in a law degree.

So, it appears from the briefing note that the issue that we were concerned about is in train, and my understanding is that that puts at rest the concerns which the Real Estate Institute had about the whole matter and about which justifiably, I believe, it got quite worked up. I would like to indicate, first, appreciation to the Attorney for a comprehensive and informative briefing note, which I am sure would be available to any other members who wish to have a look at it and, secondly, our unqualified support for the bill through the committee stage.

The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN: I appreciate the remarks made by the Hon. Mr Gilfillan. The issues which prompted him to put his amendment on file have now been satisfactorily resolved and, in that context, I am pleased that that is the case. I am also pleased that, if the amendment is not moved, the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs will retain the flexibility which is necessary to ensure that those who apply to become real estate agents are not disadvantaged where they might have come from interstate or they might have acquired most of the qualifications in South Australia but others, of an equivalent level of competency to those achieved in South Australia, interstate or overseas. So, I think the outcome is satisfactory to everybody. The bill itself did not address that particular issue: it dealt with other issues raised by the competition policy review and, in those circumstances, again, I think the change that has been proposed in the bill will be an advantage for not just the real estate industry but also the community.

The CHAIRMAN: Am I correct that the Hon. Mr Gilfillan will not proceed with his amendment and, therefore, I can put questions on all the clauses?

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: I think, however, it may be worthwhile including in Hansard a little extra from the briefing note, to reassure those who did have sympathy with our amendment because our amendment was, I believe, well- targeted, and the introduction of this briefing note discusses the background. It reads:

The Supplementary Report provided to the Government by the Review Panel contains a new recommendation regarding the entitlement of those admitted, or eligible for admission, to practise law in South Australia to gain registration as a land agent.

The recommendation is that such persons' legal qualifications should be accepted for registration purposes provided they can also demonstrate competency in:

2. Undertaking property sales by private treaty and conducting property sales by auction, limited to the discrete areas of:

- Marketable features of residential properties which may have an effect of the sale/lease price and/or marketability of the property:

- The common types of selling/leasing agencies used in the context of the South Australian market:

- understanding that one method may be more suitable for a particular property than another method.

It is important to emphasise that, although I do not intend to put my amendment, the intention was to ensure that the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs could not play fast and loose with who he or she recognised as having the appropriate qualifications. My assumption is, from the briefing note and the general tenor of the way we are proceeding, and I believe that the Attorney has virtually verified this, that if an applicant comes from interstate that applicant would still be required by the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs to be competent in the areas that he listed in his briefing note. And I have had the affirmation of that from the Attorney, so we have that verified in Hansard .