Tripodina v Commissioner for Fair Trading [2021] NSWCATAD 258

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Tripodina v Commissioner for Fair Trading [2021] NSWCATAD 258 Hearing dates: 29 July 2021 Date of orders: 03 September 2021 Decision date: 03 September 2021 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: K Ransome, Senior Member Decision: The decision under review is affirmed. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW – Real estate agent – Application for Class 1 licence – Qualification and experience requirements set out in an Order issued by the Minister – Mandatory nature of requirements - Whether the applicant meets the terms of the Order Legislation Cited: Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 Property and Stock Agents (Qualifications) Order 2019 Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Christopher Tripodina (Applicant) Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of Customer Service (Respondent) Representation: Applicant in person Legal, Department of Customer Service for Respondent File Number(s): 2021/00104086

REASONS FOR DECISION 1. Christopher Tripodina has worked in real estate for some years. He held relevant certificates under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 (now the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (the Act)) from about 2010 and a real estate agent licence from 13 April 2018. Reforms to the licensing regime for agents were introduced in 2017-2018 and further reforms commenced in 2020. The stated aims of the reforms were to improve educational and professional standards across the real estate and property industry, improve accountability and transparency, to streamline the licensing framework and strengthen compliance and enforcement powers (Second Reading Speech, Legislative Assembly, 21 November 2017). 2. Amongst other things, changes were made to the licensing system for real estate agents and there are now three levels of licence which reflect a person's qualifications and experience: * Certificate of registration (assistant agent); * Class 2 licence (licensed agent) * Class 1 licence (licensee in charge). 1. Under the transitional provisions in the new legislation, Mr Tripodina's real estate agent's licence was converted to a Class 2 real estate agent's licence under the Act. On 1 February 2021 Mr Tripodina applied under the Act for a Class 1 licence - the licence required for anyone working as a licensee in charge of a business. The application was refused on 18 February 2021, a decision which was affirmed on 16 March 2021 following an internal review. 2. The basis upon which the Commissioner for Fair Trading refused Mr Tripodina's application was that the Commissioner was not satisfied that Mr Tripodina met the qualification requirements set out in the Property and Stock Agents (Qualifications) Order 2019 to be issued a class 1 licence. Mr Tripodina has now sought review of that decision by the Tribunal under the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997.