Continuing Education

A new practice rule came into effect on 1 January 2012 which requires all licensees to complete a set amount of continuing education each year.

All licensees will need to demonstrate that they have completed the continuing education requirements in order to renew their licence (from 2013 on).

Continuing education has two parts. Licensees must complete both parts before re-licensing:

Ten hours of verifiable education: This is education in relation to complying with the Act, Regulations and Rules. This will be delivered by an approved provider. The verifiable continuing education topic for 2012 is the Professional Conduct and Client Care Rules, with a focus on disclosure.
Ten hours of non-verifiable education: This includes conferences, in house training, personal professional development and other industry-based training.

Key points about continuing education

Continuing education requirements apply to all licensees who have an active licence.
The approach recognises industry based education licensees already undertake, but also expects them to undertake specific education that reinforces knowledge about complying with the Act, Regulations and Rules.
Basic requirements are that over 12 months, all licensees will need to successfully complete at least 10 hours of verifiable education (this is in relation to complying with the Act, Regulations and Rules) and 10 hours of non-verifiable education (this includes conferences, in house training, personal professional development and other industry-based training).
The Authority has established and chairs an advisory group made up of representatives from consumer groups, the industry, and industry groups as well as a continuing education expert. This group provides an avenue for all stakeholders to provide the Authority with their views on emerging issues that may require specific education.
Continuing education must be done through a provider that has been approved by the Authority. A list of these approved providers is below.
Continuing education will become a prerequisite for licence renewal.
From 1 January 2013, licensees who are reviving their licence after having it suspended for more than 12 months will need to complete 10 hours of verifiable refresher training when re-entering the industry.
The Authority will not be charging for continuing education. However, the approved providers will set their own fees for providing verifiable continuing education.

2012 verifiable continuing education topic

The 2012 verifiable continuing education topic is the Professional Conduct and Client Care Rules, with a focus on disclosure.

Setting the Professional Conduct and Client Care Rules as the topic for the first year of continuing education will help reinforce the purpose and content of the Rules and help licensees to comply.

Disclosure is an important issue for those involved in buying and selling property and is vital to help protect buyers and sellers.

When can I start my verifiable continuing education?

We are working with the ETITO, our Industry Training Organisation, to build learning objectives, a core curriculum and training materials which all approved providers will be required to implement. This will be ready for the approved providers in early March 2012.

This means that you will most likely not be able to start verifiable CE until end March/early April 2012.