1. To me the glaring omission in this “reform” is that no change seems to have been made as to how NSW Fair Trading enforces compliance with the Act.
That is to say, before this “reform”, a complaint by Joe Public against a real estate agent (including a strata agent) required a complainant to:
A. Write to NSW FT by formally listing allegations of say misconduct or dishonesty, which are breaches of the Act under which the agent is licensed; and
B. Provide evidence to back the allegations.
NSW FT would consider the matter and decide if compliance action is needed, for instance:
(i) Directing the agent (strictly speaking, licensee in charge) to further education; or
(ii) Sending the licensee in charge a warning letter; or
(iii) Fining the licensee in charge; or
(iv) Taking more serious steps.
The complainant would at no time be informed:
* If NSW FT took compliance action at all against the licensee and
* What if anything, the licensee said, wrote or inferred in reply to NSW FT.
Oh, and the agent could conceal the matter entirely from the OC, if he so chose.
The “reform” keeps all the above in place.
The above is not what I consider remotely “consumer protection”. It’s “industry protection”.