What the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 means for Victorian agents
Reserve prices go public, statements of information get a new name, and deposits stay put until settlement
The Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 rewrites significant parts of the Estate Agents Act 1980 and the Sale of Land Act 1962. For anyone listing, marketing or settling residential property in Victoria, the practical effect is a shift in three areas: what you have to publish about price, when you have to publish it, and what happens to the deposit before settlement.
The Bill passed with a schedule of amendments from the Legislative Council. Those amendments left the estate agent provisions untouched but did change the commencement clause, so some of the dates circulating earlier are now out of date.
Nothing here is legal advice, and the commencement dates below are the statutory backstops. Most of these reforms commence on proclamation, so they can start earlier than the dates shown.
The short version of when things start
| From |
What starts |
| Day after Royal Assent |
Licence suspension for late trust account audits (Estate Agents Act ss 24E–24G). Narrowing of the off-the-plan rescission right for apartment buyers (Sale of Land Act s 9AEA). |
| 1 October 2026 |
The whole property price statement and seller’s reserve price regime. This is a fixed date, not a proclamation. |
| By 1 June 2027 |
Section 32 statements move to a “sale availability time” model. |
| By 1 July 2027 |
Deposits can no longer be released to the vendor before settlement unless the contract says so, and agents can no longer take commission out of the deposit. |
| By 1 December 2027 |
Mandatory reporting of sale data to Consumer Affairs Victoria. |
The 1 October 2026 tranche is the one to plan around. It is the only tranche with a hard statutory date rather than a proclamation-plus-backstop, and it is by far the largest.
1 October 2026: price transparency
The statement of information becomes the property price statement
The familiar statement of information is renamed the property price statement, and it grows. Alongside the indicative selling price, the median suburb price and the comparable sales, it must now include:
-
- the key features of the property, building type, bedrooms, bathrooms, car spaces, internal floor area in square metres, total land size in square metres, and anything else prescribed by regulation;
- key features for each comparable sale, not just the address, price and date; and
- the seller’s reserve price, once you have it.
Where fewer than three comparable sales are available, the statement must now explain why you believe fewer than three comparable properties sold in the relevant period. And if one or two comparables exist, you must use them, section 47AC gains a new subsection (3A) requiring the agent to take into account the one or two most comparable sales rather than defaulting to none. The existing wording that lets the agent nominate the properties “that the agent reasonably considers to be” most comparable is removed, tightening the test.
Where the statement has to appear
Three new publication obligations, each carrying 240 penalty units:
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- Online listings must prominently include the property price statement for the whole period the property is offered for sale. “Prominently includes” is a new defined term: visibly displayed or hyperlinked on the first visible part of the listing page, immediately adjacent to the advertised price. A link buried at the bottom of the page will not do.
- Physical advertising, boards, brochures, print, that specifies information about the property must carry a web address or QR code linking to the statement.
- Before you have the reserve price, online listings must prominently include the indicative selling price.
The seller’s reserve price becomes a published figure
This is the biggest change in the package. Before any auction or fixed-date sale, the agent must ask the vendor in writing for a reserve price. The request has to include the agent’s proposed reserve, the reasons for it, and a statement of the requirement that the reserve be a single dollar amount without qualifiers. The vendor responds in writing, either signing off on the proposal or nominating a different figure with signed confirmation.
Once you have it, the reserve must be published for at least seven clear days before the auction or fixed-date sale, in every advertisement carrying a price. It must be a single dollar amount, not modified by words or symbols, no “from”, no “over”, no “starting at”, no “+”.
And under new section 47AI, you cannot run the auction or fixed-date sale at all if the reserve has not been published for that full seven-day period. Both obligations carry 240 penalty units, and section 47AH is added to the profit-forfeiture provision in section 94A, so a conviction can also strip the commission.
The advertising cleanup obligations in section 47C follow through. Once the reserve is received, online advertising showing a lower price must be removed or corrected within one day, and other advertising as soon as practicable. Quoting below the reserve becomes a contravention in its own right.
Sale prices go onto the statement
Within seven days of the unconditional sale date, the agent must amend the property price statement to include the sale price, publish it online, and keep it freely accessible for 18 months. An exemption process runs through the Director for circumstances involving family violence or personal violence, and while an exemption application is on foot the agent must not publish the sale price.
A short grace period
New section 110 gives auctions and fixed-date sales held within 14 days after 1 October 2026 a pass, the old sections 47AF and 47C continue to apply to them. Beyond that fortnight, the new regime applies to campaigns already under way.
Day after Royal Assent: trust account audits
A quieter change with sharp teeth. New sections 24E to 24G let the Business Licensing Authority suspend an estate agent’s licence for up to 12 months where the agent fails to lodge the trust account audit report required by section 64(2A).
The Authority must first give written notice specifying a lodgement deadline and the suspension period, and can extend the deadline before it bites. But if the report is not lodged, the suspension runs from the specified date. While suspended, the agent is taken not to be licensed and is ineligible to act as an agent’s representative. The Authority can revoke a suspension early, with reasons.
This one commences immediately. If your audit lodgements run late, fix that now.
By 1 June 2027: the section 32 statement moves earlier
The Sale of Land Act obligation shifts from give to the purchaser before they sign to make available from the sale availability time. That time is:
-
- Auction or fixed-date sale: 14 days before the first auction date or first fixed date;
- Other public advertising: 14 days after the property is first publicly advertised;
- No public advertising, a sale within 14 days of first advertising, or a sale more than 14 days before the auction or fixed date: before the purchaser signs, as now.
“Make available” is defined as making the statement available in electronic or hard copy on the request of any prospective purchaser. A new section 32(3) requires the vendor to give written notice of any changes to the statement before the purchaser signs.
For a standard auction campaign this is the practical consequence: the section 32 statement has to be ready two weeks before auction day, not on the day the contract is signed. Vendors and their conveyancers will need to order certificates earlier, and agents will need to build the lead time into campaign planning.
The rescission ground in section 32K(3) and the offence in section 32L(c) are updated to match. A 28-day transitional window in new section 59 exempts contracts entered into within 28 days after commencement.
By 1 July 2027: deposits and commission
Two changes that will reshape how deposits are handled.
Deposits stay put. New section 26A prohibits releasing deposit moneys to the vendor before settlement unless the contract itself contains a term, agreed between purchaser and vendor, providing for early release. The existing section 27 mechanism, where the purchaser signs an authorisation after accepting title and receiving mortgage particulars, is repealed outright.
Commission comes out of settlement, not the deposit. New section 26B prohibits an agent retaining commission, auction expenses or any other entitlement out of the deposit before settlement or rescission. This replaces the old section 27(9), which expressly allowed exactly that.
The Legislative Council added a second subsection to section 26B making clear that the agent can still receive those amounts from the vendor before settlement, the prohibition is on taking them out of the deposit, not on being paid. In practice, though, since section 26A locks the deposit down, any pre-settlement payment will come from the vendor’s own funds. Agencies that currently rely on deposit release to fund campaign costs and commission should model the cash flow impact well before this commences.
By 1 December 2027: reporting sale data
The final tranche introduces mandatory disclosure of property sale information, address, key features, sale price and any prescribed information, to the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria, within seven days of the unconditional sale date. Penalty: 240 penalty units.
The same family violence and personal violence exemption pathway applies. Section 9 of the Estate Agents Act is amended to make collecting and publishing residential sale information a function of the Director, and section 47AP authorises the Director to publish it so buyers can make better-informed decisions.
Agreements entered into before this commences that contain a non-disclosure term are carved out.
Off-the-plan: a narrower rescission right
One amendment the Legislative Council added late. Section 9AEA currently lets an apartment buyer rescind an off-the-plan contract where the developer has not arranged a developer bond, or has arranged one securing too little. A new subsection (3) switches that off where the developer is excepted from the bond requirement under section 137ZP(1) of the Building Act 1993.
The exceptions themselves are created elsewhere in the Bill and commence on the same day, so the two operate together from the day after Royal Assent.
What to do now
Immediately. Check trust account audit lodgment. The suspension power is live from day one.
Before 1 October 2026. Rebuild your listing templates and authority documents. You will need a written reserve price request process, a revised property price statement covering key features and comparables, a website that can display the statement prominently next to the price, QR codes on physical collateral, and a workflow that publishes the sale price within seven days and keeps it live for 18 months. Train staff on the seven-day reserve publication rule and on the one-day advertising correction window, both carry serious penalties, and section 47AH exposes commission to forfeiture.
Through 2027. Work with your conveyancing partners on earlier section 32 preparation, and review how your agency funds campaigns if it currently draws on released deposits.
This article summarises the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 as passed with the amendments made by the Legislative Council. Provisions may be renumbered on assent, and proclamation dates may bring the later tranches forward. Agents should obtain their own advice on how the changes apply to their business.
