Queensland CPD trips people up for one reason. The year it runs on is personal to you. It does not start in January and finish in December like most things on the calendar. It starts on your own licence anniversary.
Once you understand that, the rest is straightforward. This guide explains how the QLD CPD year works, what the two sessions involve, what it costs, and the important rule change arriving on 6 June 2026.
Your CPD year runs from your licence anniversary
In Queensland, your CPD year runs for 12 months from the anniversary of your licence or registration issue date. That is the date your licence was issued, not the calendar year and not the renewal cycle of the office you work in.
This is the part that catches people out. Two agents sitting side by side in the same agency can have completely different CPD years, because each licence was issued on a different date. There is no shared office deadline. Yours is yours alone, set by when you were first issued.
If you are not certain of your date, do not guess. Check your licence, or work it out with our QLD CPD year guide and free calculator, which tells you exactly when your CPD year opens and closes.
You complete two sessions in your CPD year
Within each CPD year, you are required to complete two CPD sessions. These keep you current on the law, agency practice and the changes that affect how you work in Queensland.
With Archer Institute, both sessions are delivered online and self-paced. You do not wait for a scheduled classroom date or sit through a full day in a room. You work through the units when it suits you, complete the assessments, and download your completion certificate when you are done.
What QLD CPD costs
Archer delivers Queensland CPD at $100 per unit. The total for your CPD year depends on the units you complete. Pricing can change, so confirm the current figure on the QLD CPD training page before you enrol. It is a modest annual cost for keeping your licence active and your knowledge current.
Set against what is at stake, the figure is small. CPD is the difference between a clean renewal and being unable to trade. Most agents treat it as a routine annual cost of holding a licence, in the same bracket as the renewal fee itself, and budget for it once a year rather than thinking about it twice.
The 6 June 2026 declaration rule
There is one change every Queensland agent should have on their radar. From 6 June 2026, renewal applicants must declare that their CPD is complete, or provide exemption details, before a renewal can be processed.
The practical effect is significant. You can no longer renew your licence first and quietly catch up on CPD afterwards. The renewal simply will not go through until your CPD is declared complete. This makes finishing early the only sensible approach. We explain exactly what the new rule means, and how to stay ahead of it, in our dedicated post on the QLD CPD declaration rule from 2026.
Why the personal CPD year matters for offices
The fact that each agent has their own CPD year has a knock-on effect for principals and office managers. There is no single date you can put in the calendar for the whole team. Every agent is on their own clock.
That is exactly what catches agencies out. One agent quietly slides past their CPD year while everyone assumes the office shares a deadline. Tracking who is due when, agent by agent, is a real administrative job, and it is the part that tends to get dropped when the office is busy. Knowing this up front lets you build a simple register rather than discover the gap at renewal.
How to stay ahead of it
Queensland CPD is genuinely manageable once you know your year. The plan is simple. Confirm your licence anniversary, mark your CPD year, then complete your two sessions well before it closes.
Because Archer CPD is online and self-paced, you can do both sessions in a single sitting if you want to clear it from your list. Save your completion certificate somewhere you will find it at renewal. For how Queensland fits alongside the other states, read our state-by-state CPD compliance guide.
Your next step
Work out your CPD year, then get your two sessions done while there is time to spare. Start your QLD CPD training online today, or call our Australian-based team and we will confirm what your CPD year needs. Always check current requirements with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading, as the rules can change.
