How to become a real estate agent in Queensland

Choose the work and authority you want

To work as an employed real estate salesperson, apply for registration after completing the 12 prescribed training units. You must be at least 18 and meet suitability requirements. Salespeople are employees: a contractor needs a full real estate agent licence. A salesperson cannot conduct auctions or operate a trust account.

Sources: Q1

Start by choosing the work you want to do: selling homes, managing rentals, or building towards your own agency. These choices affect the authority and training you need. Ask a prospective employer to describe the tasks, reporting line and work arrangement in plain language. Then compare that role with the regulator’s categories.

A full agent licence uses 19 prescribed competencies drawn from Certificate IV and Diploma material. It can support operating an agency, subject to the other legal requirements; company licensing is separate. The 19-unit licence set is not automatically the complete Diploma. Auctions remain a separate authority.

Sources: Q2

Match your training to the pathway

The salesperson set includes the five professional-practice core units, five residential-sales units, establishing landlord relationships and managing tenancy. It is a registration unit set, not the full 18-unit national Certificate IV. If you want the full qualification or later agent licensing, ask which additional units and charges are involved.

Sources: Q1

Ask an RTO for its exact course title, unit list and the award or statements of attainment you will receive. A qualification code identifies the training product. An RTO number identifies the training provider’s registration. Neither is your personal licence number. Keep those three things separate when comparing offers.

• Am I seeking employee registration or a licence for contracting?
• Which of the 12 or 19 prescribed units are included in the quote?
• Who arranges practical assessment participants, documents and trainer feedback?

Compare the study arrangements as well as the headline price. Find out whether sessions are live, when assessment is due and who provides role-play participants or workplace documents. Ask how feedback works if you need another attempt. Build a weekly timetable that fits work, caring responsibilities and time to practise. Online delivery can still involve practical demonstrations.

Prepare the application and your first job

Attach the required identity and training evidence and pay the application charges. The Office of Fair Trading arranges a criminal-history check. People who are not citizens or permanent residents also need the required passport and work-right evidence. Provide complete documents; the current salesperson page warns that application volumes are affecting processing times.

Sources: Q1

Ask an employer to identify the legal authority needed for the offered duties. Keep that answer with the course unit map. Wait for the required registration or licence before performing regulated work; an enrolment receipt is not permission to start.

• Keep identity and qualification documents together, with names that match the application.
• Check how recent each police or other check must be before ordering it.
• Save the official application reference, payment receipt and any requests for more information.
• Agree who will supervise you, review your work and answer questions on difficult transactions.
• Discuss hours, travel, tools, pay structure and expected duties before accepting a role.

Treat the first weeks as a supported learning period. Ask to see the agency’s procedures for records, privacy, client communication, complaints and handling money. Request clear instructions on what you can do yourself and what needs approval. Use questions and written notes to build confidence; there is no need to pretend you already know every process.

Plan the cost, timing and ongoing work

Price the exact 12-unit entry option, a full Certificate IV and the 19-unit agent-licence pathway separately. Include application and criminal-history charges, future CPD, renewal and any extra assessment costs. Use the current OFT fee schedule for your chosen authority and term. An advertised course price is not an all-inclusive licence-entry budget.

Sources: Q4

Separate three time periods: completing training, meeting any required experience, and waiting for the application decision. An advertised study duration describes a provider’s course, not a guaranteed date when you can lawfully work. Allow for document preparation, marking, another assessment attempt and information requests. Ask the regulator about your own proposed start date.

Queensland now requires annual CPD, subject to exemptions such as the first 12 months after initial issue. The ordinary requirement is two approved sessions: one Type 1 plus one Type 2, or two Type 1. Keep evidence for five years. Renewal/restoration declarations have applied since 6 June 2026. Training from another jurisdiction is not automatically accepted.

Sources: QCPD

Make a simple budget with separate lines for tuition, administration, materials, equipment, application checks, government charges, renewal and continuing learning. Put “not confirmed” beside an unknown amount. Ask for the total repayment under a plan and the conditions attached to funding. Eligibility for a subsidy is assessed separately from licensing suitability.

Use this enrolment and career checklist

• I can name the work I want and the authority needed for it.
• I have compared the current official unit requirements with the written course offer.
• I understand whether I receive a full qualification or selected-unit statements of attainment.
• I have a written fee breakdown, payment terms, refund rules and the cost of extra attempts.
• I know which tasks need supervision and who will supervise me.
• I have allowed separate time for study, experience and the regulator’s decision.
• I will keep renewal, training and reporting dates in a calendar.
• I know that a job offer, course completion or funding approval does not itself grant a licence.

For your next step, read the national career overview alongside this jurisdiction guide. Use the existing student guide for a closer look at the Certificate IV and the course-cost checklist for written questions. If you have an older qualification, an interstate licence or a restricted authority, ask the destination regulator to assess that pathway before repeating training.