How to become a real estate agent in Victoria

Choose the work and authority you want

For a first agent’s representative role, the standard pathway requires the prescribed 18-unit Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice, completed within the last five years. On 8 October 2026 the employer checks eligibility, gives written authority and notifies the Business Licensing Authority. Representatives may carry out authorised sales or property-management work but cannot run an estate agency business.

Sources: V1

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.

The standard individual estate-agent licence route adds the prescribed 12-unit Diploma of Property (Agency Management) and at least one year of aggregate full-time Victorian representative experience in the preceding three years. Apply through myCAV. A company operating the agency needs its own licence. Previous qualifications and prior-holder routes require separate checking.

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Match your training to the pathway

The first-time representative course includes 15 specifically named units and three valid electives. Training must cover Victorian estate-agency law, practice and procedure. Compare the written unit list with Consumer Affairs Victoria’s requirements before paying. A general claim that a course is nationally recognised does not establish that its electives fit Victoria.

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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.

• Will my first work date fall before or after 25 November 2026?
• Does the training use the required Victorian unit mix and local law?
• How will my Victorian representative experience be recorded for a later licence?

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

Prepare your training evidence and the police-check material your employer requires. The employer must check age, qualification and disqualification requirements before you start. Ask for written authority and confirmation of the BLA notification. If your first work date falls after the coming registration change, use that new application process.

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Create or check your personal myCAV account and make sure employment details are accurate. Save your qualification transcript, written authority and experience records. Put both the registration transition and the later CPD start date in your calendar.

• 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

The individual agent-licence page lists an application fee of $450.90 AUD for 2026–27, checked on 8 October 2026. Announced fee changes begin on 25 November, so confirm the amount before applying. This is not a course price, representative-registration quote or total career-entry cost. Budget police checks and later training separately.

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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.

Direct individual representative registration begins on 25 November 2026. Qualifying employed representatives on the BLA register on 24 November transition automatically; new applicants then apply and pay through myCAV. Minimum five annual CPD activities for representatives and agents begin on 1 April 2027. These are two different commencement dates.

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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.