The real estate industry has welcomed the decision to scrap a proposed national licensing reform.
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed on Friday not to go ahead with the National Occupation Licensing Authority which was set up by the former Labor federal government.
Most states decided at a meeting in Canberra on Friday not to proceed with the national scheme, citing the cost and other problems.
The President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, Peter Bushby, applauded the decision.
“Australia’s 118,000 real estate professionals are happy that COAG has delivered them an early Christmas present. The decision reflects what REIA and its members have been saying for the last 18 months that the proposal did not deliver the expected benefits and that there is a better way to achieve them.”
“From the outset, we supported national licensing but objected to a flawed model that dumbed down educational and operational standards for our industry.
“We are pleased that the States have agreed to investigate approaches that would increase labour mobility and deliver net benefits for businesses and governments.
“REIA looks forward to working with Government and the Council for the Australian Federation (CAF) to deliver a system that has benefits to consumers and maintains the professionalism of the real estate occupations.
“We note that the National Occupation Licensing Authority will be disbanded and welcome that development as it represented an additional layer of bureaucracy and waste of millions of taxpayer dollars.”
The authority will cease operations in early 2014.
