The Compensation Fund is the Property Services Compensation Fund established and maintained under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 (PSBA Act).

Part 10 of the PSBA Act applies to and in respect of a failure to account (within the meaning of that Part) arising from any act or omission of a licensee under the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 (CL Act) that occurs on or after the commencement of the CL Act, as if the licensee were a licensee under the PSBA Act.

For that purpose, a licensee under the CL Act is taken to be a licensee within the meaning of the PSBA Act and a licence under the CL Act is taken to be a licence within the meaning of the PSBA Act.

A person who claims to have suffered a pecuniary (monetary) loss because of a failure to account by a licensee or a former licensee may make a claim against the Compensation Fund, but only if the claim is made in writing to the Commissioner within:

• a period of 12 months after the person has become aware of the failure to account; or
• a period of 2 years after the date of the failure to account, whichever period ends first.

The PSBA Act defines a failure to account as a failure by a licensee to account for money or other valuable property that was entrusted to the licensee or an associate of the licensee in the course of the carrying on of the licensee's business as a licensee.

A failure to account must arise from an act or omission of the licensee or associate.