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Andrew Meehan, the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) president, has taken aim at the lack of common sense he says is contained within Victoria’s professional education standards.
In an article penned by Mr Meehan, and published in the Herald Sun earlier this week, he acknowledged that “it’s safe to say the last two years have seen a torrent of challenges like never before, resulting in a mass exodus of property managers and residential property providers”.
Pointing to data from jobs platform Seek, which indicates upwards of 1,000 property manager roles are currently unfilled in Victoria and “the recent departure of nearly 40 per cent of the property management workforce”, Mr Meehan said that “in the thick of a rental crisis fuelled by a lack of housing supply and persistent market headwinds, including rising interest rates and an archaic taxation policy, the last thing the property sector needs is additional barriers for those who aspire to work in it”.
“But that’s exactly what’s happening,” he countered.
While he acknowledges it as “a good thing” that the process to become an agent’s representative in Victoria — an entry-level role — now requires a Certificate IV in real estate practice, he said “the issue is that you cannot do any form of real estate work until after you have fully completed, and passed, the Certificate IV”.
While he is an advocate for strong education, he raised: “Imagine a builder’s apprentice not being allowed onto a building site.”
He is proposing that instead of legislating that you must have “passed” the requisite training course, it should instead allow people undertaking their Certificate IV to undertake internship-like duties.
The president believes that this would not only solve existing workplace constraints — it would also “provide significant relief to the sector with job-ready workers at the completion of their studies”.
“At a time when the entire country is short-staffed, commonsense legislation needs to prevail,” he argued.
Detailing that 80 per cent of the 9,000 real estate businesses registered in Victoria are comprised of operations with fewer than 10 staff, Mr Meehan believes that “if these businesses were able to open their doors to students undertaking the Certificate IV, enabling participation in active duties, under supervision, they’d have an extra pair of hands on deck to better serve hundreds of thousands of renters and tens of thousands residential property providers”.
“And it would help the business keep the lights on,” he said.
To conclude, Mr Meehan stated that “allowing the next generation of aspiring real estate professionals to hit the ground running with hands-on experience just makes sense”.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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