Apply for an estate agent’s licence - individual

On this page:

• Before you start your application
• How to apply
• After you lodge your application

Before you start your application

Eligibility

To be eligible for an estate agent's licence, you must satisfy the experience and current education requirements:

Experience requirements

You must have gained the aggregate of at least one-year full-time experience as an agent’s representative in Victoria at any time during the last three years immediately before applying for a licence.

Education requirements

The education requirements you require to be granted an estate agent’s licence depend on when you completed your prescribed course.

You can find further information about these prescribed education requirements in the Estate Agents (Education) Regulations 2020, which are available at Victorian Legislation.

Registered training providers

Your course must be delivered by a registered training organisation in Victoria law, practice and procedure. To find real estate courses delivered by registered training organisations, visit the Australian Government's My Skills website.

Previously held estate agent's licence

You are eligible to apply for an estate agent's licence if you have previously held a Victorian estate agent's licence within the last five years.

Interstate and New Zealand licences - mutual recognition

To apply under mutual recognition to work as an estate agent in Victoria, you must hold a current equivalent interstate or New Zealand estate agent’s licence. For more information, view Apply for mutual recognition of an interstate or New Zealand estate agent's licence.

Overseas licences - recognition

You may be eligible to apply for a Victorian estate agent's licence if you hold or have previously held an equivalent licence overseas. For more information, view Apply for recognition of an overseas estate agent’s licence.

Ineligibility

You are automatically ineligible to be licensed if you are:

• under 18 years of age; or
• a represented person under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1986 (where a guardian or administrator has been appointed); or
• as an individual or as a director or officer of a company, currently disqualified from holding an estate agent's licence (or equivalent) anywhere in Australia or elsewhere, or the subject of an order by any regulatory body disqualifying you or the company from acting as an estate agent or equivalent.

You may also be ineligible if:

• you are currently insolvent under administration (bankrupt, debt agreements under Part IX or Part X)
• within the last 10 years, you have been convicted or found guilty of a disqualifying offence involving fraud, dishonesty, drug trafficking or violence punishable by 3 months or more in prison. For information about spent convictions, view Spent convictions
• you have ever had a claim admitted against you from the Victorian Property Fund or Estate Agents' Guarantee Fund.

Permission

For bankruptcy, disqualifying criminal offences and claims against the Victorian Property Fund or Estate Agents' Guarantee Fund you may still be granted a licence if you apply for permission. For more information, view: 

• Disqualification and permissions
• Spent convictions.

Fees

The application fee for 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 is $415.10.

The application fee must be paid at the time of application. The fee is non-refundable.

Records checks

You must provide proof of your identity as part of your application.  

You may be able to do this by verifying your identity online. For more information, view Identity verification.  
 
If you can’t complete online identity verification, you must submit certified copies of four identity documents and a signed consent form with your myCAV application. The correct documents, properly certified, will help your application avoid delays. For more information, view Records checks.  

The Business Licensing Authority (BLA) will conduct checks with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), and other agencies to verify the information provided in the application. Any disputes about the accuracy of the results of the checks will be referred to ACIC.   

Providing incorrect information

It is a serious offence for a person to knowingly make a false or misleading statement in relation to a licence application. Significant fines apply.

Unlicensed trading

Unlicensed estate agents are liable for significant fines.

If you intend to operate through a company, that company must also be licensed. View Apply for an estate agent’s licence - company.

How to apply

You must use our online myCAV system to apply for an estate agent’s individual licence.

To start using myCAV, you will need to create your own myCAV account, using a personal email address to verify your identity and sign in to your account.

Complete and lodge your application in myCAV:

Start application

For more information, view About myCAV.

Additional documents required with the application

You must attach the following documents to your application in myCAV: 

• A copy of the relevant Victorian education qualifications: 
  • For the Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice and the Diploma of Property (Agency Management) – the certificate and/or a letter of completion from the registered training provider. This documentation must state the name of the course, the units completed and the completion date; or 
  • For all other courses completed – the certificate and/or a letter of the completion from the registered training provider that states the name of the course and the completion date. 

• If you cannot complete online identity verification:
  • A completed Consent to national criminal history and other record checks (Word, 353KB).
  • Certified copies of the required identification documents, including at least one document containing your certified photograph. Details are on the Consent to national criminal history and other record checks form. 

After you lodge your application

Processing time

To avoid delays, please complete the form correctly and attach all necessary documents. The average processing time last quarter was 23 days.

You must not conduct business as an estate agent unless the BLA grants you a licence.

Additional information

When considering your application, the BLA may require you to provide further information. The BLA may refuse your application if you do not provide this within a reasonable timeframe.

Change of information

If any change occurs in the information you have provided in your licence application, you must notify the BLA in writing within 14 days of becoming aware of the change.

Sharing your information

The BLA gives your information to:

• Consumer Affairs Victoria
• other law enforcement and regulatory bodies.

These organisations may report any relevant information to the BLA.

For privacy information, view Information and privacy - Business Licensing Authority.

Withdrawing your application

You can withdraw your application in writing at any time before it has been determined by the BLA. Please note that the fee is non-refundable.

Refusal of application

If your application is not successful, you will be notified in writing. You can appeal the decision by applying to VCAT within 28 days of the decision.

Successful application

If your application is successful, you will receive an estate agent's licence which is ongoing unless surrendered, suspended, disqualified or cancelled. Once you are licensed, you should familiarise yourself with your ongoing obligations and licensing requirements.

Conditions on a licence

The BLA may impose conditions:

• which must be complied with before the BLA grants a licence
• on granting a licence
• at any time after a licence is granted.

The BLA may also vary or revoke any conditions or restrictions imposed on a licence at any time.