PAMD Split to Property Occupations Act

Splitting of the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000

Red tape reduction review of the draft:Property Occupations Bill 2013
Motor Dealers and Chattel Auctioneers Bill 2013
Commercial Agents Bill 2013
Agents Financial Administration Bill 2013


The Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000 (PAMD Act) provides for the licensing and regulation of real estate agents, resident letting agents (letting agents for community titles schemes), pastoral houses (sellers of rural-based livestock, chattels and property), property developers, motor dealers, auctioneers and commercial agents (i.e. debt collectors, process servers and repossession agents). It also establishes a claim fund for consumers who suffer financial loss as a result of the conduct of a licensee.

The Queensland Government is now seeking proposals and input from stakeholders to slash red tape and reduce the legislative burden for businesses who are licensed under the PAMD Act.

As a first step, draft Bills to split and repeal the PAMD Act into industry specific Acts have been drafted:

• Property Occupations Bill 2013
• Motor Dealers and Chattel Auctioneers Bill 2013
• Commercial Agents Bill 2013
• Agents Financial Administration Bill 2013.

These draft Bills (the draft Agents Bills 2013) include legislative amendments to reduce the regulatory burden, deregulate a number of activities and consolidate particular categories of licence. In addition, amendments have also been drafted to implement the Queensland Government´s election commitment to streamline warning statements in home sale contracts. Further, it is proposed to no longer licence chattel auctioneers but to continue to regulate the conduct of these auctioneers - for example: by imposing trust account requirements.

The Queensland Government has now released the draft Agents Bills 2013 for public consultation. The Bills provide a clear platform for further red tape reduction opportunities and the government is seeking stakeholder views on how to further slash unnecessary red tape and duplication.

The draft Fair Trading Inspectors Bill 2013 is also being released for stakeholder information. This draft Bill is a departmental red tape reduction initiative that will consolidate and make consistent inspectorate provisions across fair trading legislation (including the prospective Agents Acts 2013). As such, a red tape reduction review of this Bill is not considered necessary. However, a draft has been released for stakeholder information to assist in the review of the draft Agents Bills 2013.

Purpose of consultation
To deliver a package of positive red tape reduction reforms for industry it is proposed that further amendments to implement stakeholder proposals raised during this consultation process be drafted and incorporated into the Agents Bills 2013 before they are introduced into Parliament.
It is anticipated that the industry specific Acts and further red tape reduction initiatives will reduce red tape for industry, improve compliance and regulation, enhance awareness of regulatory requirements, and simplify the legislative burden.

How to participate
The draft Agents Bills 2013 provide a clear platform for further red tape reduction opportunities.

Interested stakeholders are invited to identify unnecessary legislative burdens or duplication and submit proposals to further reduce red tape giving consideration to:

• practical considerations (i.e. how the proposal will best work in practice); and
• consequences (i.e. if there are any consequences that would also need to be addressed if the red tape is reduced).

Stakeholders for the property industry are also encouraged to provide their views on the appropriateness of including the ´Matters to be included in proposed relevant contract´ provisions (clause 167 of the draft Property Occupations Bill 2013) and the ´Waiving and shortening cooling-off periods´ provisions (currently clauses 168, 169 and 170 of the draft Property Occupations Bill 2013) in the Property Law Act 1974 (which is an Act to consolidate, amend, and reform the law relating to conveyancing, property, and contract), as opposed to the proposed Property Occupations Act, which will be an Act to comprehensively provide for the regulation of the activities, licensing and conduct of property agents, resident letting agents and their employees, to protect consumers against particular undesirable practices.
Submissions on the draft Agents Bills 2013 should be provided in writing by 5pm on Friday
 8th March 2013 to:

Mail: Red Tape Reduction Review of Agents Bills
Office of Regulatory Policy
GPO Box 3111
BRISBANE QLD 4001
Email: agentsbills@justice.qld.gov.au
Fax:
07 3405 4059
ConfidentialitySubmissions may be subject to laws providing for freedom of information. As such, when writing your submission, it should be kept in mind that it may be made publicly available. If you do not want any part of your submission published, please indicate this, together with your reasons, clearly in your submission. You should also be aware that even if you state that you do not wish certain information to be published, there may be circumstances in which the Office of Fair Trading and the Government is required by law to release that information, for example in accordance with the requirements of the Right to Information Act 2009 and Information Privacy Act 2009.
Please note that neither the Office of Fair Trading nor the Government will include the personal details of a member or an association in any report which may later be publicly released in relation to this consultation.

Source http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/splitting-of-PAMDA.htm