FAQs

All of our courses are delivered online using Moodle. Students can either create their own login for the Student Portal before enrolling in a course, or we will issue one to you following enrolment if you do not already have one.

If we generate login details to the Student Portal for you, they will be noted in your formal enrolment confirmation email.

We do! Unlimited learning support is provided to all students, free of charge. Students can contact us for assistance. Assignment guidance enquiries are responded to during business hours (AEST/AEDT).

Property law is different in each state and territory of Australia. This means each state/territory has its own governing body (often referred to as a ‘regulatory body’) to regulate the law in that particular state/territory.

In addition to processing property licence applications, the role of a regulatory body is to minimise any direct harm or detriment to a consumer from a business that fails to comply with the law.

Regulatory bodies aim to educate industry groups and other Government agencies to promote voluntary compliance. Inspectors are often assigned to conduct inspections of businesses (real estate agencies) to ensure conduct and compliance are in line with legal and ethical standards.

Australian regulatory bodies:

• NSW: NSW Fair Trading

• QLD: QLD Fair Trading

• WA: Consumer Protection (Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety - DMIRS)

• ACT: Access Canberra

• SA: Consumer and Business Services (CBS)

• VIC: Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV)

• TAS: Property Agents Board of Tasmania

• NT: Northern Territory Agents Licensing Board

Depending on the State/Territory you hold a licence or registration in, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) will need to be completed by a particular date each year.

• ACT licence holders: CPD must be completed by 30 June.

• ACT registration holder: CPD must be completed by 31 October.

• NSW licence or registration holder: CPD must be completed by 22 March.

• WA licence or registration holder: CPD must be completed by 31 December.

• Tasmania licence or registration holder: CPD must be completed by 30 June.

Absolutely! To complete your traineeship course with us, please follow the instructions below.

1. Read through our course information and decide on the course that best suits you and your licensing needs.

   • It is important to note that not all qualifications (such as a Certificate III) will cover the educational requirements needed to make an application for a licence/registration in your state/territory. Some regulatory bodies will require completion of a certain set of units of competency. We offer courses based specifically on these educational requirements, so make sure you read through our course information and decide on the course that best suits you and your licensing needs.

2. Register yourself and your employer with an Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN) or Group Training Organisation (GTO).

3. Choose Macdonald Education (RTO 91003) as your preferred training provider.

4. Your AASN or GTO will contact us once you have registered with them. From there, we can enrol you and you can commence your studies with us.

Yes, we provide face-to-face CPD for agencies wanting to book their team for group CPD within NSW (Sydney and Greater Sydney region). Please contact us to enquire and request a quote for corporate CPD training.

Please note:

1. We provide corporate CPD training for or NSW licensees (Class 1 and Class 2) only.

   • We recommend NSW Assistant Agents complete their CPD online. See our NSW Assistant Agent CPD package.

2. Corporate CPD can be arranged for groups of eight or more participants.

3. A location for completion of corporate training must be arranged by your agency. Our trainer will attend at the confirmed location (within Sydney or Greater Sydney region only).

4. Following confirmation of training date/s and participant numbers, each participant will need to complete an enrolment form. This allows us to confirm the licence category of your team members so we can ensure they complete the correct CPD topics for their licence.

5. Access to training material via the Student Portal is provided to participants prior to the training date. Students may complete training either by printing off the assessment task document/s prior to the training date or by completing tasks on a digital device (preferably a laptop/PC) on the day.

6. An invoice for payment will be issued on the day of training.

7. Course completion certificates are emailed to participants within five business days following training.

We do not place any time limitation on course completion. Unlike other RTOs, we do not charge a ‘re-enrolment’ fee once you have been enrolled for a certain amount of time. You will even be able to access your course post-completion, in case you wish to review learner resources while working in the industry.

Important: Although we do not limit the time students have to complete courses with us, you will still need to keep in mind any cut-off dates imposed by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and your state/territory's regulatory body, such as due dates for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or units from a training package that is being phased out.

See a live demo of how our courses are structured!

Courses are completed via the Student Portal on Moodle. Each topic of a course contains an assessment task Microsoft Word document and learner resources to assist you with completing the assessment task questions.

Learner resources are made up of a combination of digital textbooks, PDFs, and references to legislation and regulatory body information.

Assessment tasks are made up of a combination of multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and extended responses (e.g., case studies, scenario-based projects, completion of mock forms/contracts) and, following completion, are uploaded online by students. All assessment tasks are completed in writing, with the exception of assessment tasks for auctioneering-based units which typically require the completion of a video mock-auction.

Due to the relaxed nature of online learning, we cannot advise how long it may take students to complete their training.

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) provides the nationally-agreed nominal hours for individual units of competency, though we recommend students bear in mind that these estimated hours will not apply to all learners.

We do not currently offer licensing courses for NSW strata management. We do, however, provide NSW CPD courses that cover the CPD obligations for NSW Class 1 and Class 2 strata management licensees.

Enrol in three easy steps!

Before enrolling, we recommend reviewing the Student Handbook to ensure you have a good understanding of your rights and obligations when studying with us.

Enrolment is prompted by payment, which can be made online or by direct deposit (please let us know if you wish to make payment via direct deposit).

Please create a profile on the Student Portal prior to making payment for a course. This is where you will be enrolled following payment. If you are a returning student, you will already have a profile on the Student Portal and can skip this step.

See more information on how to enrol.

Enrolment is usually processed within one business day following payment. Students will receive a formal enrolment email detailing how to access their course/s (this email is different from the payment confirmation email).

As our courses do not have any minimum entry requirements, anyone may enrol to complete online study with us. However, should you wish to gain a registration or licence in a given state/territory within Australia, you will need to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria for application with the relevant state/territory government.

Our ‘Steps to start work in real estate’ guide outlines the application criteria for licensing and registration in each state/territory. We highly recommend contacting the regulatory body of the state/territory you wish to work in if you have any questions around licence or registration application eligibility.

Students living in Australia must hold a Unique Student Identifier (USI) to receive result documentation upon successful course completion. If you move to Australia and become eligible for a USI before you complete your studies, you must fulfil the requirement of gaining a USI before we can release your course certificate to you. More information can be found on the USI website: usi.gov.au.

Assessment tasks are typically graded within five business days following submission via the Student Portal. During periods of increased assignment submissions, we ask that students please allow up to ten business days to receive a grade.

Examples of periods where increased assignment submissions are to be expected:

• Cut-off dates for annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) completion

  • 30 June (NSW)

  • 30 June (ACT licensees)

  • 31 October (ACT salespeople)

  • December (WA).

• Cut-off dates for completion of units from a phased-out training package.

• Following public holidays.

We offer Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for students who have completed property services training in the past, currently work in the property industry, or have previously worked in the industry. We have a one-off charge of $155 to assess an RPL application. See more information about applying for RPL.

Once you have finished your course, we will process and email your training certificate/s to you. This is usually done within seven business days of course completion, using the details provided upon enrolment.

If a significant amount of time has elapsed since enrolment, we may contact you to ensure the details we have on file for you are still correct before processing your certificate/s.

Students completing licence, registration or auctioneering training will need to submit their training certificate/s to the relevant regulatory body when applying for the relevant licence, registration or auctioneer accreditation.

Assessment is competency-based. This means that students are assessed as either ‘Competent’ or ‘Not Yet Competent’ in each topic of a course. Once a student has been assessed as ‘Competent’ in all topics of a course, the course has been successfully completed. See more information about competency-based assessment.

We charge no resubmission fees if a student is assessed as ‘Not Yet Competent’ for an assignment. Students can resubmit assessment tasks as many times as is needed to be graded as ‘Competent’.

Individual units of competency or courses made up of units of competency (e.g. licence or registration courses) do not have Goods and Services Tax (GST) applied to the course cost. GST is applied to and included in Elective CPD, Business Skills CPD, and Compulsory CPD courses only.

Yes, we have payment plans available for students who wish to make payment for a course in installments. Payment plans are available for courses that are Certificate IV- or Diploma-level qualifications. See more information about payment plans.