Under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (the Act), individual holders of a licence (class 1 or 2 agents) and certificate of registration (assistant agents) are subject to a condition that the holder must comply with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements. CPD is aimed at ensuring licence and certificate holders continually update their skills and are aware of their legislative requirements and responsibilities.

 

ACOP has been conducting CPD for the property industry since September 2003, when CPD became mandatory for professionals working in the property industry. ACOP provides CPD training in all property licence categories in NSW.

As per NSW Fair Trading’s CPD Guidelines, all licence and certificate of registration holders within NSW are required to complete CPD each year as one of the requirements of holding their authority to practice. The CPD year starts on the 23 March each year and ends on the 22 March the following year. CPD will no longer be linked to your renewal date and MUST be completed in the CPD year.

You can confirm your class of licence through the NSW Fair Trading public register, which dictates what level of CPD you are required to undertake.

ACOP’s courses are developed by and delivered by current industry professionals and solicitors. This means that students are able to benefit from the analysis of real cases and scenarios and receive the most up to date knowledge of legislation and industry best practices.

All courses offered by ACOP provide an opportunity to network with other agents and agencies and to share ideas within our best practice framework.

CPD requirements per Licence Class

Class 1 (Licensee-in-Charge) – for Real Estate and Strata Management (must complete 9 hours of CPD training each year)

• • 3 hours of Compulsory CPD with topics as set by NSW Fair Trading; and
  • 3 hours of Elective CPD with topics from a broad range of best practice issues; and
  • 3 hours of Business Skills CPD topics

Class 1 (Licensee-in-Charge) – for Stock & Station (only) (must complete 6 hours of CPD training each year)

• • 3 hours of Compulsory CPD with topics as set by NSW Fair Trading; and
  • 3 hours of Business Skills CPD topics

Class 2 Licence Holders – for Real Estate and Strata Management (must complete 6 hours of CPD training each year)

• • 3 hours of Compulsory CPD with topics as set by NSW Fair Trading; and
  • 3 hours of Elective CPD with topics from a broad range of best practice issues

Class 2 Licence Holders – for Stock & Station (only) (must complete 3 hours of CPD training each year)

• • 3 hours of Compulsory CPD with topics as set by NSW Fair Trading

NOTE:
For Class 1 and Class 2 agents, if you hold a Real Estate licence and a Strata Management licence, you are required to complete Compulsory CPD in both categories of licence.
As two (2) of the topics in each of the Compulsory session are identical, if you hold both licences, you are only required to complete an additional hour to cover the topic that is different.
This additional one hour topic for either real estate or strata management, is offered through the online student portal.

Class 3  Certificate of Registration (Assistant Agents)

• • Complete 3 Units of Competency from the relevant Certificate IV licensing qualification:
    • For Real Estate and Stock & Station Licence requirements:   CPP41419 – Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice
    • For Strata Management Licence requirements:  CPP40516 – Certificate IV in Strata Community Management

2022 CPD Topics

Compulsory

NSW Fair Trading has set specific topics for the compulsory 3 hours of CPD training.  For the 2022/23 CPD year, ACOP has selected the following from the list provided by Fair Trading:

Real Estate Agents and Stock & Station Agents

• • Privacy
  • Cyber Security and Fraudulent Activity
  • Industry Contracts

Strata Managers and On-Site Residential Property Managers

• • Privacy
  • Cyber Security and Fraudulent Activity
  • Changes to Community Land Management legislation

Livestock Agents

• • Privacy
  • Cyber Security and Fraudulent Activity
  • Stock and Diseases

To enable you to have the best experience for your CPD, ACOP has developed three options for the Compulsory CPD based on the functions you undertake on a daily basis.  The three (3)  Compulsory CPD options are:

• • Compulsory CPD for Real Estate (for Property Sales, Property Management and Stock & Station)
  • Compulsory CPD for Strata Management (for Strata Managers and On-Site Managers)
  • Compulsory CPD for Livestock Agents (Livestock sales)

Elective 

For the Elective topics, NSW Fair Trading has set some broad content areas focused on the best practices with a property agency.  ACOP will be conducting Elective CPD topics for the following licence / functional categories:

• • Property Sales
  • Residential Property Management
  • Strata Management
  • Business Broking
  • Buyers Agents 
  • Commercial Sales & Leasing
  • Stock & Station

Business Skills

For the Business Skills topics, NSW Fair Trading has set some broad content areas focused on the best practices with a property agency. For the ACOP online courses, each session is of one hour duration, meaning that you would need to completed three (3) sessions to meet your CPD requirements as a Class 1 Agent. for face-to-face sessions and interactive webinars, the sessions will be of 3 hour duration.

For the face-to-face and interactive webinar sessions, the 3 topics that will be covered are:

• • Dealing with Difficult Customers
  • General Agency Compliance
  • Effective Team Management

The individual one hour sessions to choose from are:

• • Dealing with Difficult Customers
  • General Agency Compliance
  • Effective Team Management

Customised and In-House CPD Training

Customised and in-house courses are also available for groups of 6 or more. Please contact us if you have specific topic needs and our trainers can come to your office to conduct your CPD course at a time that suits you and your staff.  Naturally, these courses are also available via interactive webinar, which is terrific for remote locations and also smaller agencies.