Licensing Submission 27/11/2008
27 November 2008
Occupational Licensing
c/- The Better Regulation Office
GPO Box 5431
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Dear Sir/Madam
I write in response to the current review of NSW Trade Licensing and the need for the Business Regulation and Competition Working Group to strongly consider maintaining the current licensing requirement for NSW Strata Managers.
An anomaly exists in that NSW appears to be the single State where licensing applies. The current NSW licensing requirement, after thoughtful consideration, may well be felt by the review board to provide consumers with a superior level of protection and support and should be implemented nationwide. That is my opinion.
I have been a Real Estate Agent since around 1965 and a Licensed Strata Manager since 1984. There was no licensing requirement for the Real Estate Industry and Real Estate Agents for many years, a time when many operators worked without Government departmental oversight, a situation that left the general public unprotected.
When licensing was introduced, the Real Estate Services Council (as controller of trust accounts and a monitor of ethical issues) had the power to rescind the license of an offender and/or to severely fine them. At their discretion they could also periodically audit trust accounts, often using surprise audits. In so doing they provided the public with a much needed level of consumer protection. With time, sales staffs too were brought under certification, providing a further level of consumer protection. An increased standard of professionalism and service delivery resulted.
A similar situation existed within Strata Managers in the early days, where little oversight was provided. There was no licensing or certification that would identify to the consumer that the business operator or their staff member possessed sufficient proficiency to measure up to the task. When one considers that Strata Managers are required to deal with trust funds in increasingly large amounts, this anomaly stands clearly as a matter in need of serious attention.
The other industries under review by NSW Trade Licensing, such as the entertainment industry or floor finishes, etc, do not handle trust funds. However Strata Managers do and this is an important consideration. So too is technical knowledge.
As members of the Real Estate Industry, Strata Managers assist legal compliance as they pertain to property owners operating under The Strata Schemes Management Act 1996, a highly complex item of legislation. Doing so requires a reasonably high level of knowledge about often complex issues. In addition, a working knowledge of other relevant legislation including The Community Land Management Act 1989, The Property, Stock & Business Agents Act 2002, Occupational Health & Safety Act 2000 and the Home Building Act 1989 come into play.
I feel it would be a backward step to remove the current licensing requirement for Strata Managers. Today, such Managers can be asked to oversee an owner’s corporation which is being required by the Strata Act to properly calculate and plan for sinking fund extending ahead some ten years. The amounts of money under discussion can be considerable, and it is indeed important that such large sums of money under trust should be protected by a fidelity fund, thereby protecting the general public against the possibility of fraud.
In our Company’s case we have some $35,000,000 in trust funds, which operate under the protection of the The Department of Fair Trading or the Real Estate Services Council.
Whilst other States, unlike NSW operate without the consumer protection provided by licensing, I, like many others in the industry, strongly believe the public could be better served should they be provided with a similar protective umbrella.
NSW is a leader in its field. We respectfully ask that you do not rescind the current requirement of licensing. The cost of compliance is low whilst the benefit to the consumer, in both peace of mind and fiscal security is high. A move to self regulation may eventually result from tertiary education in the future, but at this juncture there is no practical way to provide adequate consumer protection than to continue with licensing.
Yours faithfully
Richard Tooker
Richard Tooker
Director
New South Wales Strata Management (formerly Gilmour Strata Management) commenced business in early 1991, as a member of the highly respected J A Gilmour & Sons group of companies. Licensed solely and specialising only in strata management services, the company has steadily grown to become one of the largest such organisations in New South Wales.
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