Who needs to apply for a licence
Any body corporate or company wishing to operate as real estate or business agents in Western Australia are required, under the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978, to be licensed and hold a current triennial certificate.
Registration requirements:
To apply for a body corporate real estate or business agent licence:
- all of the directors of the body corporate and all of the persons concerned in the management or conduct of the body corporate, must be persons of good character and repute and be persons who are fit to be directors of, or concerned in the management and control of, an agent’s business (See Character and Repute section below);
- the body corporate must show that it has sufficient material and financial resources available to it to comply with the requirements of the Act;
- unless, for good cause shown by the applicant, Consumer Protection otherwise determines, where there are:
- not more than three directors of the body corporate at least one of them must be licensed; or
- more than three directors of the body corporate at least two of them must be licensed; and
- the person in bona fide control of the business operated under the licence must be licensed. If one of the licensed directors is not undertaking the role of person in bona fide control of the business, then the directors must nominate a licensed person to carry out the role.
What do I need to do to lodge a complete application
To apply for a licence and triennial certificate you must lodge a complete application. This means you must:
- complete all the relevant sections of the application form.
- Attach/pay the correct fee. This is payable at the time of lodging the application.
- Provide the relevant police check, which is not more than three (3) months old at the time of lodgement, for all directors. Only police checks issued by our list of approved providers will be accepted.
- Two business references for each partner/director using the pro forma (see Business Reference section below).
Submit your application
Once you have completed the application form and have all of your supporting documents ready, you can lodge your application in one of three ways:
| Online | By Post | In Person (including payments) |
| Lodge and pay for your application | If you are submitting your application by post and are making payment by credit card, you must also complete the Application Payment Form and attach it to your application. Applications received without payment cannot be accepted. Post to: Licensing Services | Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 4:30pm Customer Service |
Requirement for partners and directors of licensees to be registered in certain cases
An unlicensed person who resides in WA, and is partner or director of a firm or body corporate must hold a certificate of registration in order to carry out the functions of a sales representative or risk a fine of $20,000.
Business Reference
Show moreEach relevant person must provide two business references. The references must be in the pro forma.
- References from relatives/domestic partner, subordinates, business partners or co-directors will not generally be accepted.
- At least one reference must be from a person external to the applicant’s current place of employment.
- References should be as detailed as possible but include only information that is relevant to the applicant’s suitability to hold a real estate agent’s licence. Any additional relevant information should be attached.
- Applicants must have a minimum of two years’ full-time relevant experience in the preceding five years. References should outline the applicant’s relevant experience within this period.
- Where Consumer Protection is unable to determine the applicant’s suitability to hold a real estate agent’s licence due to insufficient information being provided in support of the application, the reference will not be accepted.
- The answers provided should be limited to the person’s character and repute and fitness to hold a licence.
Character and Repute
Show moreIn order to satisfy the Commissioner for Consumer Protection (the Commissioner) that you are a person of good character and repute and a fit and proper person to hold a certificate of registration you must provide an Australian police check from an approved provider issued no more than three months prior to the date of lodging the application.
The application form requests you disclose, among other things, previous convictions, pending proceedings, reprimands and fines. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of the character questions in the application form, further information must be provided regarding the circumstances. Where necessary, the Commissioner for Consumer Protection may request that an applicant attend an interview to determine whether he or she satisfies the requirements of the Act.
A person who gives false or misleading information to the Commissioner or chief executive officer under the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 commits an offence and is liable for a penalty of up to $20,000.
