In addition to the new laws, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland has published the tenth edition of the standard contract for the sale and purchase of residential homes. The contract has been endorsed by the Queensland Law Society and is now in use.

There have been many practical changes for those working in and interacting with the real estate industry. Real estate agents now have different disclosure requirements to buyers and sellers. There is no longer a mandatory Warning Statement attached to residential contracts. Forms and procedures have changed, especially in relation to the shortening or waiving of cooling-off periods.

We anticipate that eConveyancing will arrive in May 2015 when we will see the end of bank cheques and paper documents being exchanged at physical settlements. Watch this space in 2015 for news and updates.

If you have any concerns or questions in relation to how the new legislation or contract may affect your conveyance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The changes introduce a new set of harmonised privacy principles that all privacy policies of individual business and other relevant entities must comply with. The principles outline matters such as:

• access to privacy policies
• how an individual can access their personal information stored by an entity
• what types of information are collected and held by the entity
• why information is collected by the entity
• how complaints in relation to privacy matters are to be resolved
• disclosure matters

The Office of the Australian Information has produced several fact sheets in relation to the recent changes. These can be accessed on their website.

On 6 May 2014 the Queensland Parliament passed the long anticipated Property Occupations Act 2014. The Act will repeal the current law regulating residential conveyancing, off-the-plan sales and real estate agents in Queensland under the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000. The new law will not take effect until it is “proclaimed”–sometime in the coming months.

The State Government has committed itself to reforming the real estate industry and has conducted lengthy stakeholder consultation.

Once proclaimed the law will:

• abolish the statutory maximum commission that real estate agents can charge
• remove the requirement for real estate agents to disclose to buyers the commission they are charging
• abolish certain consumer protection measures, including the Warning Statement and Body Corporate Information Sheet that presently must be attached to residential contracts
• abolish price guides for properties sold at auction
• abolish the restriction that prevents an agent receiving a commission when they have a beneficial interest in a property as buyer or seller
• remove the statutory cooling-off period for certain buyers who enter into contracts for properties passed in at auctions
• remove the requirement of an independent solicitor’s certificate to be provided to waive or shorten the cooling-off period

Once proclaimed the new Property Occupations Act 2014 will affect many different stakeholders in the real estate industry as it seeks to reduce red-tape, simplify the paperwork involved in buying and selling residential property and deregulate aspects of the real estate industry.

Buyers should be aware of the changes that will soon come into effect. All parties to a residential property transaction are strongly encouraged to seek legal advice before signing a contract.

The Attorney-General’s press release can be found here. The Queensland Law Society’s press release can be found here.