Priority: High – Victorian & NSW border offices
Victoria’s Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill has passed Parliament and takes effect on 1 October.
Agents will be required to disclose a vendor’s reserve price at least seven days before an auction or fixed-date sale. There are also substantial changes to residential property pricing, advertising and sale procedures.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) is seeking urgent clarification about:
- Changing the reserve during the seven-day period
- Accepting offers before the scheduled sale
- Whether certain changes could force an auction to be postponed
Written reserve process becomes mandatory
Before an auction or fixed-date sale, the agent or agent’s representative must ask the vendor in writing to provide a reserve price.
The request must contain:
- The agent’s proposed reserve price – DOWNLOAD our reserve request form
- The reasons for the proposed reserve (included in form)
- An explanation that the reserve must be a single dollar amount (included in form)
- Instructions explaining how the vendor must respond (included in form)
The vendor must respond in writing and either:
- Sign their acceptance of the proposed reserve
- Nominate and sign confirmation of another reserve
- Ask the agent to provide another proposed reserve
Expressions such as ‘from’, ‘over’, ‘starting at’ and ‘plus’ cannot be attached to the reserve.
This means verbal instructions provided shortly before an auction will not satisfy the new process. DOWNLOAD our recommended office procedure.
Reserve must be published for seven days
The confirmed reserve must be published continuously throughout the seven days immediately before the auction or fixed-date sale.
It must be displayed prominently in online advertising. Other advertisements containing a price must also include the reserve.
An agent must not conduct the auction or fixed-date sale unless the seven-day publication requirement has been met. Breaches of several of these provisions carry a maximum penalty of 240 penalty units.
A transitional exemption applies to auctions and fixed-date sales held within 14 days after the 1 October commencement date.
Advertising must be corrected promptly
Once the agent receives the vendor’s reserve, no advertised price can remain below it.
The agent must take all reasonable steps to:
- Correct or remove conflicting online advertising within one day
- Correct or remove conflicting print and other advertising as soon as practicable
This applies across agency websites, property portals, social media, digital campaigns, brochures, window displays and other advertising.
Offices will need a process that triggers these changes as soon as the written reserve is received.
Questions remain about changing a reserve
Neither the original clauses nor the amendment schedule clearly explain what happens if a vendor changes the reserve after the seven-day publication period has begun.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) is seeking guidance on:
- Whether any reserve change restarts the seven-day period
- Whether increases and reductions are treated differently
- Whether an offer can be accepted during the final seven days
- Whether other buyers can be invited to offer
- When an auction or fixed-date sale must be postponed
Until formal guidance is issued, members should not create their own interpretation.
Property Price Statement replaces the SOI
From 1 October, the Statement of Information becomes the Property Price Statement.
It must contain key features of the subject property and each comparable sale, including:
- Building type
- Bedrooms and bathrooms
- Car spaces
- Internal floor area
- Land area
- Other features prescribed by regulation
The Property Price Statement must appear prominently in online advertising. Physical advertisements containing property information must include an internet address or QR code linking to the statement.
The need to include internal floor area deserves particular attention. Members should establish which sources and measurement methods are acceptable before entering this information.
Sold prices must be published
Within seven days after a residential sale becomes unconditional, the Property Price Statement must be updated with the sale price.
The updated statement must then remain:
- Published on an internet site
- Available without charge
- Accessible for at least 18 months after the unconditional sale date
Limited exemptions may apply, including circumstances involving family or personal violence.
Principals will need to assign responsibility for confirming the unconditional date, updating the statement and retaining it online.
Trust-account failures may threaten licences
The Business Licensing Authority will be able to suspend an estate agent’s licence where the licensee fails to lodge a required trust-account audit report after receiving notice and an opportunity to comply.
A suspension may last for up to 12 months. While suspended, the person is treated as unlicensed.
This provision commences the day after Royal Assent. Principals should confirm immediately that trust-account audits, reports and any outstanding corrective work are current.
Coming in 2027
Section 32 changes from June 2027
The Legislative Council amendments substantially revise the original Section 32 proposal.
From no later than 1 June 2027, the Section 32 statement must be available:
- From 14 days after a property is first advertised for a private sale
- At least 14 days before the first advertised auction or fixed-date sale
- Before the buyer signs if the property is not publicly advertised
Importantly, the amendments preserve the ability to sell early. If a property sells within the first 14 days of advertising, or more than 14 days before its scheduled auction or fixed date, the Section 32 must be available before the purchaser signs.
Agents will therefore not always have to delay an early acceptable sale for 14 days. They must, however, ensure that the Section 32 has been made available before a contract is signed.
Deposit release changes by July 2027
The statutory Section 27 deposit-release mechanism will be repealed no later than 1 July 2027.
Early release will instead depend on an appropriate condition in the contract authorising the estate agent to release the deposit to the vendor or as the vendor directs.
Where deposit money is released early, the agent cannot retain commission, auction expenses or other entitlements from that deposit before settlement or rescission.
The amendments clarify that this does not prevent the vendor from paying the agent those amounts separately before settlement. Offices should obtain legal and trust-account guidance before changing their procedures.
What First National principals should do now
Before 1 October, Victorian principals should:
- Introduce a written reserve-price request and approval process
- Assign responsibility for monitoring the seven-day publication period
- Establish a rapid advertising-update procedure
- Review all auction and fixed-date sale checklists
- Confirm that Property Price Statements can be displayed prominently online
- Establish approved sources for floor-area and land measurements
- Create an unconditional-sale notification process
- Confirm statements can remain publicly accessible for 18 months
- Review trust-account audit compliance
- Train salespeople, administrators and auctioneers
- Monitor government guidance on reserve changes and early offers