If you hold a real estate licence or registration in Queensland, there is a change to your renewal you need to know about. Since 6 June 2026, the way CPD connects to renewal has changed, and it removes a habit a lot of agents relied on for years.
Here is the short version. You can no longer renew your licence and sort your CPD out afterwards. The training has to be done first, and you have to say so when you renew.
What the rule actually says
Since 6 June 2026, anyone applying to renew a Queensland real estate licence or registration must declare that their continuing professional development is complete, or provide exemption details, before the renewal can be processed. The Queensland Office of Fair Trading sets the requirement, and the declaration becomes part of the renewal step itself. The OFT's own CPD page puts it this way: from 6 June 2026, when you renew or restore, you declare that you have completed your CPD (you do not need to attach proof), confirm that you are exempt, or provide details if exceptional circumstances stopped you completing it. It also says it cannot process a renewal application until your CPD is complete.
The CPD requirement has not changed. It is still two CPD sessions in your CPD year. What has changed is the order of events. Previously, some agents would renew on time and then complete CPD during the year. That gap has closed. Now the renewal and the proof of completed CPD arrive together.
What this changes in practice
The practical effect is simple but it catches people out. If your two sessions are not finished, your renewal does not go through. There is no renew-now-train-later option to fall back on.
That matters because a stalled renewal is a trading problem. If your licence lapses while you wait to finish CPD, you can be left unable to legally trade until it is sorted. A training task that takes a day can hold up your income if you leave it to the last moment.
It also rewards agents who plan ahead. If your CPD is already done well before renewal, the declaration is a formality. You tick the box, you renew, you carry on.
What to do now
The fix is to stop treating CPD as a renewal-week chore and start treating it as a small annual task you finish early. Three steps get you there.
- Know your CPD year. In Queensland it runs 12 months from the anniversary of your licence or registration issue date, not the calendar year. If you are not sure when yours falls, our guide to working out your QLD CPD year will walk you through it, or our free QLD CPD year calculator will do it for you.
- Finish your two sessions early. Months ahead is ideal. That way the declaration at renewal is never a scramble.
- Keep your completion certificate somewhere you can find it when you renew. The OFT does not ask for it with the renewal. You must still keep proof of completion for 5 years and produce it on request.
- Read our guide to renewing a Queensland licence or registration for the full process, notice to approval.
For the full picture of what Queensland CPD involves and how the sessions work, read our QLD CPD requirements explained. And if you want to understand the cost of getting caught short, see what happens if you miss your CPD deadline.
The reassuring part
None of this needs to be stressful. Queensland CPD with Archer Institute is online and self-paced, and most agents finish a unit in a few hours. Archer's two Queensland CPD units are Market Property and Trust Accounts, $100 each; if you are not sure when your CPD year runs, our QLD CPD year calculator will show you. So even if your renewal is close and you have not started, you can get moving quickly and make your declaration with confidence once your CPD is done.
Whenever your renewal falls due, the best thing you can do today is get your two sessions done. Browse QLD CPD training or call our Australian-based team and we will confirm exactly what you need for your CPD year. As always, check the current requirements with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading, since the licence is issued by the state authority and we issue the training.
