A person who wishes to carry on business as a conveyancer must hold a conveyancer’s licence issued by NSW Fair Trading, unless they are a legal practitioner. A corporation can also hold a conveyancer’s licence.

The role of a conveyancer is a very important one. Buying or selling a home, or making a sound property investment, may be the most expensive transaction a consumer will make in their lifetime. Professional conveyancing services ensure the legality of a sale or purchase and are vital to the long term financial security and peace of mind of clients.

Conveyancers are regulated by the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 and the Conveyancers Licensing Regulation 2006.

This legislation defines the range of legal work able to be done under a conveyancer’s licence, sets out rules and requirements for conducting a conveyancing business, provides for resolution of costs disputes and enables the Director General to take disciplinary action for a contravention of the requirements.

A person or corporation must hold a conveyancer’s licence if they wish to conduct a conveyancing business.

This requirement does not apply to a legal practitioner, an incorporated legal practice or solicitor corporation.

No licence is required to do conveyancing work as an employee of a licensed conveyancer or a legal practitioner.

To be eligible for a licence, a person must:

• be at least 18 years of age
• be a fit and proper person to hold a licence
• hold an appropriate qualification      
• not be a disqualified person
• be covered by professional indemnity insurance and
• contribute to the Compensation Fund (this is paid with the licence application fee).

Where a licensee or applicant is in a partnership, each partner must also be licensed, unless the Director General has given approval for a partnership with an unlicensed person (see section 27 of the Act).

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For a corporation to be eligible for a licence:

• each director of the corporation must be a fit and proper person
• neither the corporation nor a director or executive officer of it may be a disqualified person
• the corporation must contribute to the compensation fund (this is paid with the licence application fee)
• at least one director of the corporation must hold an individual conveyancer’s licence.

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The qualifications for a licence approved by the Minister for Fair Trading are set out in the  Conveyancers Licensing Order 2006 which may be viewed on the NSW Legislation website.

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Licensed conveyancers must be covered by a policy of professional indemnity insurance at all times. A licensee may take out their own policy, or they may be covered by their employer’s policy.

The professional indemnity insurance policy must be one that has been approved by the Minister for Fair Trading and can be found in the Conveyancers Licensing Order 2006.

Evidence that the licensee has insurance coverage must be provided when applying for a licence. Where a licensee is employed by a legal practitioner, evidence of the employer’s policy as required under the Legal Profession Act 2004 must be provided.

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For information about applying for a conveyancer’s licence, go to the Business Licence Information Service website. This website includes application forms and information about applying for a new licence or renewing or restoring an existing licence, including application fees and compensation fund contributions.

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All conveyancer licences expire on 30 June each year.  When an application for a new licence is granted, the licence is in force from the date of issue until the following 30 June. 

Renewed licences are issued for the 12 month period from 1 July to the following 30 June.

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Renewal of a licence is subject to the condition that licence holders are covered by professional indemnity insurance (unless exempt from this requirement) and undertook continuing professional development during the preceding year as required by the Director General's Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development for Conveyancers.

An application for renewal of a licence may be lodged with Fair Trading up to 4 weeks before the licence’s expiry date.  If an application for renewal is not made by the expiry date, the licence lapses.  A conveyancer must not continue to conduct a conveyancing business at any time while their licence is lapsed. 

An application may be made to restore a lapsed licence within three months of its expiry.  After that, an application for a new licence must be made.

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Participation in continuing professional development is a requirement for renewal of a conveyancer’s licence. The Commissioner’s Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development for Conveyancers in RTF format (size: 454kb) sets out the number of points that must be accrued each year and the types of professional development that are recognised.

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A person who is dissatisfied with a decision by NSW Fair Trading in relation to the issue, renewal or restoration of a licence, or the placing of a discretionary condition on a licence, is entitled to have the decision reviewed by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal.

Before applying to the Tribunal, it is necessary to write to the Director General to request an internal review of the decision.  Requests for an internal review must be made within 28 days of being advised of the decision.  If the licensee or applicant remains dissatisfied after the internal review, an application can be made to the Tribunal.

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NSW Fair Trading maintains a register of all licences issued under the Act.  As well as details of each licence holder, the register includes information about disciplinary findings against licensees, payments from the Compensation Fund and other matters.

The aim of the register is to provide information to consumers to ensure that they use the services of appropriately licensed and competent persons.  To find out details about a licensee, write to NSW Fair Trading or call our Property Services Licensing Unit on (02) 9619 8799.

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A disqualified person, including a disqualified corporation, is not eligible to obtain or hold a licence under the Act. Disqualified persons also cannot:

• share receipts with a licensee (section 26)
• be in partnership with a licensee (section 27)
• be employed by a licensee, with certain exceptions, unless the Director General has given approval (section 29)
• if an individual, be a director of a licensed conveyancing corporation (section 8). 

A person is disqualified for all purposes under the Act if, among other things, they: 

• have been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty in the last 10 years
• are mentally incapacitated
• are disqualified, or have had their licence suspended, in another state or territory or under other NSW Fair Trading licensing laws, or are disqualified from being employed in a law practice
• hold a licence or certificate under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002
• are in partnership with a disqualified person
• have been declared disqualified as a result of disciplinary action under the Act
• have failed to pay a compensation fund contribution, a debt arising from a claim on the compensation fund or a monetary penalty
• have failed to comply with a disciplinary direction given by the Director General under Part 9 of the Act
• have failed to lodge an auditor’s report relating to trust money held under the Act
• have been removed, otherwise than by request, from the roll of lawyers kept by the Supreme Court or from a corresponding roll in another state or territory
• as a corporation, are subject to a winding up order or under external administration
• are a legal practitioner, solicitor corporation or incorporated legal practice. 

Under section 10(2) of the Act, a person is disqualified from holding a licence, but is able to be employed by a licensed conveyancer, if, among other things, they:

• are an undischarged bankrupt
• were bankrupt during the last three years
• were a director or manager of a company under external administration during the last three years (except in the case of a members’ voluntary winding up)
• were a director or manager during the last three years of a company that went into external administration within the following 12 months of them ceasing to be a director or manager. 

The Director General can approve the issue of a licence to a disqualified person in certain limited circumstances (see section 10).

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