Agents may face tougher licence conditions after landlord’s fire charges

Queensland is lagging behind other states in two measures that can help protect rental tenants, says the housing minister.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella

• Editor’s view: Shouldn’t take a tragedy

Queensland real estate agents should have to undergo yearly training to keep their licence on safety and legal responsibilities under the state’s new code of conduct, says the head of the industry’s peak body.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon threw her support behind a rental commissioner after The Courier-Mail revealed Queensland was lagging behind Victoria and NSW who have appointed one to protect tenants. She also committed to introducing a real estate industry code of conduct.

“We’re certainly very open to looking at that sort of role (rental commissioner),” she said. “What we do need in Queensland is a code of conduct, and we’re the only state that doesn’t have one because that was torn up by a previous government.

“So that’s something that we’ll be continuing with, but (we) always welcome any feedback.”

In a rare move by the Queensland Police Service, a landlord was issued a notice to appear on one count of “owners must install smoke alarms” on Tuesday following the August 6, 2023 fire on Russell Island that killed Wayne Godinet and his five sons, aged three to 11.

Without commenting on that matter specifically, Premier Steven Miles said landlords shouldn’t need to be motivated by fines or threats of enforcement to do the right thing.

Instead, people in charge of properties should “imagine waking up and knowing a decision you made to save a few hundreds bucks led to the death of four children”.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon

Mr Miles stood by the government’s reforms on smoke alarms, which provides for a maximum $750 fine for having non-compliant alarms.

“No matter what the fine is, if you’re a landlord, or you’re a property manager, make sure that you’ve got the right smoke alarms,” he said.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella supported development of a new code but warned training must be tied to licensing given that almost half of all real estate agents do not undergo further training after obtaining their licence and initial training.

“What we’ve been calling for, for nearly a decade now, is the introduction of mandatory CPD continuing professional development for property managers and all property professionals,” she said.

“We believe it’s not enough to simply obtain your educational qualification and then never have to do any more training if you consider how important the work is, how significant the work is and the level of responsibility that’s bestowed upon real estate professionals.”

Queensland currently does not have specific smoke alarm checklists in its tenancy agreements, unlike NSW.

Instead, the RTA said in a statement that “smoke alarms are listed as a reportable item in the entry condition report (Form 1a)”.

“The tenant must sign and complete the report within seven days of starting a tenancy, and the property manager/owner must return a copy of the signed and completed report to the tenant within 14 days.”