What Is CPD in Queensland Real Estate? Definition and Agent Guide

CPD — Continuing Professional Development — is the mandatory annual training requirement that every Queensland real estate licensee and registered salesperson must now complete to keep their licence or certificate current. As of 6 June 2025, CPD became a legal requirement for all real estate professionals in Queensland. It is not optional, it is not aspirational, and it is not satisfied by the training you completed when you first obtained your licence. Miss it, and your renewal is at risk. Understand it properly, and it becomes a manageable — and genuinely useful — part of your professional practice.

How CPD Works in Queensland Real Estate

The basic structure

You must complete two approved CPD sessions each CPD year. If you don’t, you may not be eligible to renew your licence or registration. Each session runs approximately two to three hours, meaning the total time commitment each year is modest — but the compliance consequences of ignoring it are not.

Unlike some other Australian jurisdictions, there is no requirement to accumulate CPD points in Queensland. Instead, you need to complete two CPD sessions every CPD year, with each session taking about two to three hours. This makes Queensland’s framework more straightforward than New South Wales, where the point-and-hour system is considerably more complex to track.

The two sessions are not interchangeable. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has split CPD into two types, and you can either complete one of each type, or two Type 1 sessions.

Type 1 and Type 2 sessions explained

Type 1 sessions are condensed versions of units in the national property services training package, designed to help real estate professionals build their knowledge and stay up to date with industry standards. Specifically, you can enrol with a registered training organisation to complete a fully accredited unit from one of the following qualifications under the national property services training package, including the CPP40521 Certificate IV in Strata Community Management and the CPP51122 Diploma of Property (Agency Management). Alternatively, an approved condensed version of one of those units — delivered by a registered training organisation or an experienced industry body — also satisfies the Type 1 requirement.

Type 2 CPD focuses on service delivery, consumer satisfaction, and professional ethics, improving your communication and negotiation skills across sales, property management, and leasing. These sessions are designed to promote and improve industry-relevant skills and are not based on the property training package units of competency. The OFT publishes a list of approved Type 2 sessions on their website.

The practical takeaway: completing one Type 1 and one Type 2 session each year satisfies the minimum requirement. Two Type 1 sessions also satisfy it. Two Type 2 sessions alone do not — at least one Type 1 must be included unless you complete two Type 1s.

Your CPD year and how it is calculated

This is where agents frequently make errors. You must complete two approved CPD sessions during each CPD year to keep your licence or registration, and your CPD year is based on your individual licence issue date, not the calendar year. That means two agents in the same office can have CPD years that differ by months.

Your licence or registration issue date is printed on your current licence or registration. If you hold multiple licences or if you hold both a licence and a registration, use the one with the earliest issue date.

The OFT provides a CPD calculator at qld.gov.au to help you confirm your exact start and end dates. Use it. In this first year of CPD in Queensland, your year commences at your first renewal date after 6 June 2025. As an example, if your licence or certificate issue date was 30 January 2025, your CPD year commences on 30 January 2026 and you must have your CPD completed by 29 January 2027.

Provider approval and session codes

Not every training event, webinar or industry conference counts. CPD sessions may only be provided by eligible organisations that have had sessions approved by the Office of Fair Trading. Only the approved CPD sessions listed on the OFT’s website will count towards your two mandatory sessions. Any CPD sessions completed from other states or territories, even if approved there, won’t be accepted. To ensure sessions are approved in Queensland, look for session codes beginning with ‘QLDCPD20’.

This is a firm boundary. A highly regarded interstate training provider delivering excellent content does not satisfy Queensland’s CPD requirements unless their sessions have been approved by the Queensland OFT.

Why CPD Matters for Queensland Real Estate Agents

The compliance case

It is illegal to work in the property industry without a valid licence or registration. CPD is now a condition of keeping that licence valid. The mechanism is straightforward: the OFT cannot process your renewal application until your CPD is complete, so to avoid delays you should complete your CPD before lodging your renewal application.

The declaration process works on self-attestation. From 6 June 2026, when you renew or restore your licence or registration, you’ll need to declare that you’ve completed your CPD — you don’t need to attach proof. However, that declaration carries weight. The OFT will record your declaration and may verify compliance during subsequent visits. False declarations can lead to compliance actions, including possible loss of licence.

You must keep a record of completion for five years. Once you complete a session, the CPD provider must supply you with proof of completion, such as a certificate or statement of attainment. Keep those certificates in a dedicated folder — digital or physical — from the moment you receive them.

The professional case

The CPD framework under the Property Occupations Act 2014 — specifically the obligations set out in sections 92B and 151B for licensees and salespersons respectively — is not purely punitive. CPD is structured learning designed to improve your skills, ensure compliance with existing laws, and enhance consumer protections. It helps real estate practitioners deliver better service and build greater confidence with clients, which contributes to fewer professional indemnity claims and a stronger property industry overall.

Queensland’s legislative history on this point is telling. Prior to June 2025, once initial educational requirements were completed and a licence or registration was granted, there was no requirement for any further training or professional development as long as that person’s licence or registration remained current. In practice, a person who was granted a real estate agent’s licence or registration in Queensland in the 1970s could be operating without ever having had to undertake any further education. Mandatory CPD closes that gap permanently.

Bringing Queensland in line nationally

The new rules bring Queensland in line with other jurisdictions like New South Wales, where CPD requirements have long been enforced. For interstate agents considering the Queensland market, or interstate investors appointing Queensland agents, this alignment means the professional training baseline is now nationally consistent. Queensland was one of the last major property markets in Australia without compulsory continuing education — that is no longer the case.

CPD Obligations, Exemptions and Common Agent Mistakes

Who must complete CPD

CPD is now mandatory for all Queensland property professionals who hold one of the following licences or registrations, regardless of job, position, or role. This includes real estate agents, salespeople (including property managers), auctioneers, and resident letting agents. The obligation attaches to the licence or certificate itself, not to the role you happen to be performing at any given time. A licensed agent who moves into a principal role, or who temporarily steps back from active selling, still carries the CPD obligation unless a valid exemption applies.

CPD training is separate to other training you may have completed when applying for your licence or registration. Your Certificate IV in Property Services, your Diploma of Property, your REIQ induction — none of that counts retrospectively against CPD requirements.

Exemptions that genuinely apply

The exemptions are narrow and specific. You are exempt from CPD if your current licence or registration was first issued less than 12 months ago (you only need to start CPD 12 months after your current licence or registration was first issued), if your licence was deactivated for most of your CPD year, if you hold a limited real estate agent licence for affordable housing or for business letting, or if you represent public sector agencies or you are an official with a licence under the Property Occupations Act 2014, provided you don’t hold an individual licence or registration.

You can apply for an exemption for any given CPD year if you can’t complete your CPD due to exceptional circumstances. You can also apply for an exemption for any given year if you cannot complete your CPD due to exceptional circumstances — but to apply, you must provide evidence of those exceptional circumstances with your application to renew or restore your licence or registration.

The mistakes agents are making

Several patterns of non-compliance are already emerging in this first year of the scheme. The most common is timing — specifically, completing training outside the CPD year. Any CPD you complete before your first CPD year commences will not count towards your mandatory requirements. An agent who eagerly completed an approved OFT session before their CPD year began has essentially done the training for free, compliance-wise, and will need to repeat it within the correct window.

The second common error is provider selection. A provider may be delivering excellent, relevant content but unless the OFT has approved that provider’s specific session, the training does not count. Only an approved training provider like the REIQ can deliver CPD training that meets Office of Fair Trading standards — and the REIQ is one among several approved providers. The full list is published on the OFT website. Check it before you book.

If you hold multiple licences or if you hold both a licence and a registration, use the one with the earliest issue date to determine your CPD year. Agents holding both a principal’s licence and a salesperson’s certificate sometimes calculate two separate CPD windows when the correct approach is to use the earliest-issued credential as the anchor date.

The third mistake is leaving CPD until the last moment before renewal. If you complete your sessions in the final days before your renewal application is due and the OFT is processing a queue of applications, you may experience delays. The OFT cannot process your renewal application until your CPD is complete, so you should complete your CPD before lodging your renewal application.

What Queensland Agents Need to Know About CPD

The legislative foundation

The CPD obligations for Queensland real estate professionals sit within the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld). For licensed property agents — including real estate agents and resident letting agents — the relevant provisions are in Part 3, Division 1A, sections 92A through 92E. For registered salespersons, the equivalent obligations appear in Part 4, Division 11, sections 151A through 151E. Section 92D and section 151D give the chief executive (the Director-General of the relevant department) the authority to approve and publish CPD requirements annually. Section 92E and 151E allow the chief executive to approve adjusted CPD years in appropriate circumstances. The renewal application requirement to declare CPD compliance is confirmed at section 58 of the Act.

This matters in practice because the legislative structure means the specific content of approved CPD sessions can change from year to year. What counted in 2025–26 may differ from what the OFT approves for subsequent years. These requirements ensure that real estate practitioners are up to date with relevant legislation, ethical practices, and changing market trends in the property industry. The content of approved sessions will evolve to reflect legislative changes, emerging practice issues and market developments.

Delivery formats available to agents

The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) is an approved provider of Type 2 CPD training sessions, delivering sessions online and in-person to Queensland property managers and agents. This means property managers dealing with tenancy disputes and compliance can complete their Type 2 requirement through sessions directly delivered by the regulator — a practical option for agents who want content closely aligned with the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

Approved sessions are available in multiple formats: face-to-face classroom, interactive webinar, and online modules. The format itself does not affect compliance, provided the session is on the OFT’s approved list. Agents in regional Queensland — or those managing properties across a wide geographic area — benefit from online delivery options, which remove the need to travel to metropolitan training venues.

The record-keeping requirement

Once you complete a session, the CPD provider must supply you with proof of completion, such as a certificate or statement of attainment. You must keep the proof-of-completion document for five years and produce it to the OFT on request. That five-year window means agents need to maintain records for CPD cycles well into the future. A certificate completed in June 2025 must be retrievable until at least June 2030.

Give a copy of your certificates of completion to your licensee-in-charge. Principals and licensees-in-charge running multi-agent offices have a practical reason to build a centralised CPD tracking system: the ability to verify at any point that every member of the team is on track. Gaps in a team member’s compliance reflect on the whole office’s record with the OFT.

What This Means for Queensland Agents

CPD real estate Queensland requirements are not a burden to be managed around — they are a structural feature of professional practice that is now permanent. The minimum commitment is two OFT-approved sessions per year, across Type 1 and Type 2 categories, completed within your individual CPD year window and evidenced by certificates retained for five years.

The practical steps are these: find your licence or certificate issue date, use the OFT’s CPD calculator at qld.gov.au to confirm your CPD year, check the OFT’s published list of approved sessions for sessions carrying the ‘QLDCPD20’ session code or fully accredited national property services training package units, book early rather than late, and file your certificates of completion securely from the moment you receive them.

For principals running agencies, the CPD obligation extends to every licensed agent and registered salesperson under your roof. Building CPD tracking into your existing compliance and staff management systems — not treating it as each individual agent’s problem to manage alone — is the approach that protects the agency as a whole.

For agents moving to Queensland from interstate, note that any CPD sessions completed from other states or territories, even if approved there, will not be accepted in Queensland. Your prior compliance record in New South Wales or Victoria is irrelevant. Your Queensland CPD year starts from your Queensland licence or certificate issue date, and only Queensland-approved sessions satisfy the obligation.

The scheme is new, but the compliance risk is immediate and real. An agent who misses their CPD deadline faces a renewal blockage — and operating without a valid licence in Queensland is a criminal offence. Two sessions a year, planned in advance and properly documented, is a straightforward obligation to meet.