The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) and the Office of Fair Trading will be holding information sessions next week for Sunshine Coast real estate agents to learn more about the recent changes to the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000.

Minister for Fair Trading, Peter Lawlor, said the collaboration was a great example of the Queensland Government and industry bodies working together to support best practice in the marketplace.

"Changes to the way residential real estate contracts are presented came into effect on 1 October," he said.

"These changes will simplify the contract process for sellers, agents and buyers, all the while ensuring that the essential consumer protection for buyers remains intact.

"Under the previous rules the process of delivering real estate contracts was very prescriptive.

"As a result, a buyer could terminate a contract for a technical breach as simple as a page being out of order when a contrac t was faxed.

"The recent changes will remove the prospect of these technical breaches being used, giving greater certainty to the market.

"Buyers have retained their right to a cooling off period, as well as the provision of important information in a warning statement."

REIQ managing director Dan Molloy said the Institute was happy to work with the Office of Fair Trading to ensure its accredited agencies were fully informed of these important changes to the real estate profession's primary piece of legislation.

"These changes are the result of government and industry working together to ensure the right legislation is in place to protect homeowners, whether they are buying or selling their property," he said.

"The REIQ regularly runs education forums for our members to keep them up-to-date on industry trends and best practice.

"Having an Office of Fair Trading speaker at our events means that our members can get the latest inf ormation on legislation changes straight from the representative that the REIQ worked closely with during the consultation process for these amendments.

"These information sessions will be open to REIQ members and other real estate agents to ensure everyone in the profession has the chance to find out about the changes and how they will affect their business practice."

The information session will be held at the REIQ Training Centre as follows:

Date: Monday, 11 October
Time: 1.30pm - 4.30pm
Venue: REIQ Training Centre
33 Dalton Drive
Maroochydore

For information on buying and selling property, visit www.reiq.com.au or www.fairtrading.gov.au

Minister for Tourism and Fair Trading
The Honourable Peter Lawlor