Individuals and companies must be registered as land agents with Consumer and Business Services (CBS) if they carry on a business that:
- buys, sells or otherwise deals with land or businesses - this includes property management
- negotiates the buying or selling of land or businesses.
Land agents are also called real estate agents.
You can also apply to be an auctioneer as part of a new registration or when upgrading an existing one.
Register or update your registration
You'll need to meet certain requirements and provide a range of documents (a photo of a document taken with a smartphone or tablet is acceptable) to register as a land agent or update your existing registration.
Fees (only MasterCard and Visa are accepted)
Who should register
Registration can be issued to:
- body corporates - eg companies
- individuals
- partnerships - all partners must be individually registered.
If your registration has been cancelled you'll need to apply again.
Registration categories for land agents (141 KB PDF)
Exemptions
Lawyers and mortgage financiers dealing with land or business sales as part of their work don't need to register.
Agencies are exempt from holding a registration when acting on behalf of:
- a large commercial property owner who owns any property that has
- an aggregate market value of $10 million or more - or
- an aggregate gross floor area of 10,000 square metres or more.
or
- an affiliated entity, meaning:
- an entity that is controlled by the person - ie the person can determine financial and operating policies of the second entity - or
- a related entity to a body corporate, such as a director, another body corporate with the same directors or a beneficiary under a trust.
The exemptions apply whether the agent is performing duties relating to buying, selling or managing property.
The exemptions are exclusive to commercial real estate. They do not include residential or rural land - e.g. agricultural or horticultural.
What you'll need
Qualifications
Check you have the right qualifications to register.
Land agent qualifications (52.4 KB PDF)
Interstate land agents working in SA (153.6 KB PDF)
Auctioneers need to be qualified as either a land agent or a sales representative.
Offences and convictions
You won't be able to register if you (or a director of the company) has been convicted of an 'indictable offence' of dishonesty, or convicted of a 'summary offence' of dishonesty within the past 10 years.
Financial probity
You will not be eligible for registration if you're:
- currently bankrupt or insolvent
- in financial receivership
- a director of a company that was wound up to pay creditors in the last five years. This includes if you were a director six months before winding up started.
Police clearance
Include with your application a copy of your National Police Certificate (NPC) no more than 12 months old.
Apply for an NPC through:
- South Australia Police
- National police checking service - Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
You don't need an NPC if you:
- are director of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
- have lodged an NPC with CBS within the last year
- are an overseas resident and have never lived in Australia
- have held a licence within the last year and are applying for an equivalent licence
- have already supplied an NPC for a different licence issued under the Land Agents Act 1994.
Digital licences
All real estate registrations are now digital, you don't need a physical card. You can download your licence or registration to an Apple or Android smart phone or tablet using the mySAGOV app.
Once registered in the app, press the '+' button in the top right corner, select your 'occupational licence' type, then enter the licence/registration number, along with your client ID.
Your client ID can be found in the Consumer and Business Services licence register.
If you can't display your licence digitally, for example there's no internet coverage, CBS officers checking for compliance can use alternative methods to check that you're registered.
Changes that affect your registration or licence
Notify CBS within 14 days if you've committed an offence, or have had legal restrictions placed on your work or business, such as bankruptcy, financial receivership, suspended or disqualified work licence.
You'll also need to advise CBS when you:
