A Queensland real estate renewal usually goes wrong in one of three ways. The CPD for the year has not been finished. A required attachment, the trust account audit report or the statutory declaration, is missing. Or the application reaches the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after the licence or registration has already expired.
The OFT runs the renewal, and it follows a set order: a notice arrives, you sort your CPD, you gather the right attachment, you lodge and pay, and the OFT processes the application. This guide walks through that order for registered salespeople and licensed agents in Queensland, using what the OFT publishes. Requirements can change, so confirm your own dates and the current rules on the OFT's renew or restore page before you rely on any of it.
When your renewal notice arrives
The OFT sends a renewal notice, including a renewal form, 4 to 6 weeks before the expiry date. If no notice arrives, contact the OFT on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) or at ilu@justice.qld.gov.au. Renewing before the expiry date is your responsibility either way, and the OFT is blunt about why: it is illegal to work in the property industry without a valid licence or registration.
Two things to settle as soon as the notice lands. First, the expiry date. The OFT tells you to check it and points you to its online licence check. Second, the term. Queensland lets you renew for 1 year or 3 years, and fees apply, with a separate figure for each term on the OFT fees page (more on that below).
You renew online through the OFT, using the individual portal for a personal licence or registration or the corporate portal for a company licence, and you need your licence or registration number to do it. The OFT also accepts the form in person at one of its locations or by post to the Industry Licensing Unit, Office of Fair Trading, GPO Box 3111, Brisbane QLD 4001. It does not accept renewals by email or phone.
Before you lodge: your CPD
The OFT says it cannot process a renewal application until your CPD is complete, and it tells you to complete your CPD before lodging to avoid delays. Since 6 June 2026 you also state your CPD position on the renewal or restoration form. Do this step first.
Queensland requires 2 approved CPD sessions in each CPD year. Your CPD year is based on the date your current licence or registration was issued, and that issue date is printed on the licence or registration itself. If you hold more than one licence or registration, the earliest issue date sets your CPD year, and if you upgrade or change your licence, your CPD year moves to the new issue date. The OFT publishes its own CPD calculator on its CPD page to tell you when your CPD year begins and ends. Archer's QLD CPD year calculator and guide to working out your QLD CPD year are planning tools built on the same anniversary method.
The two sessions can be a Type 1 session and a Type 2 session, or two Type 1 sessions. Only sessions approved in Queensland count. Look for session codes beginning with QLDCPD20, or complete an approved unit under the national property services training package. A session completed in another state or territory is not accepted, even if it is approved there.
When you renew or restore, the OFT asks you to do one of three things on the form: 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. Our guide to QLD's CPD declaration rule covers the change, and QLD CPD requirements explained covers the sessions themselves. If you fall short, the OFT says you may not be eligible to renew, and what happens if you miss your CPD deadline sets out the cost of that.
Exemptions are the OFT's call. If your current licence or registration was first issued less than 12 months ago, you do not need to complete CPD yet, because CPD starts 12 months after that first issue date. The OFT also lists exemptions for a licence deactivated for most of the CPD year, for limited real estate agent licences for affordable housing or business letting, and for public sector agency representatives who do not separately hold an individual licence or registration (if they do, the OFT says they must complete CPD). You can also apply to the OFT for an exemption if exceptional circumstances stopped you completing CPD. Confirm your own position with the OFT before you rely on any of them.
If your two sessions are the piece still outstanding, Archer's Market Property and Trust Accounts units are both OFT-approved Type 1 sessions, $100 each and self-paced. Complete both and your two required CPD sessions for the year are done. You receive a completion certificate for each unit. CPD is professional development rather than nationally recognised training, so the certificate is never a Statement of Attainment.
What to attach
Which attachment you need depends on whether you managed a trust account during the previous licence period.
- If you managed a trust account, you must submit a trust account audit report when renewing or restoring your licence, prepared by a qualified auditor. Registered salespeople are exempt from this requirement.
- If you did not manage a trust account, you must attach a statutory declaration, a legally binding statement, to your renewal application. The OFT supplies the wording to use, one version for an individual and one for a corporation, confirming that you did not operate a trust account or receive funds on behalf of another person during the relevant auditing period.
- Either document can also be emailed separately to OFT.Financial@justice.qld.gov.au.
- Your CPD certificates stay with you. You declare your CPD status on the form, and the OFT says you do not need to send your certificates. You must still keep the proof of completion for 5 years and produce it to the OFT on request.
Lodging and processing
Once your CPD is settled and your attachment is ready, lodge through the individual or corporate portal, or on paper in person or by post. Pay the fee when you lodge. The OFT says a complete application with the fee paid is processed quicker, and that it will contact you for more information if the application is incomplete. If you do not provide what it asks for, it may withdraw the application and you will need to reapply.
At the time of writing, the OFT's renewal page carries this note: “We're receiving more applications than usual, which is impacting our 4 to 6-week processing time.” Confirm the current processing time with the OFT before you plan around it. The OFT's stated processing time is 4 to 6 weeks and it says volumes are pushing past that, so lodge as soon as the notice arrives.
If your licence or registration has expired
If your licence or registration has already expired, you have 3 months to apply to restore it. If the OFT receives your application within that 3 month window, you can continue working while it is processed, so allow for delivery time if you lodge by post rather than online. If the OFT does not receive it within 3 months, the licence or registration expires, you must stop working, and you apply for a new licence.
Restoration is lodged through the same renew or restore portals, and the OFT says the trust account audit report is required when restoring as well as renewing, and that you state your CPD position for the relevant years on the form. If the 3 month window has closed, our guides to getting a real estate licence in Queensland and applying to the OFT cover the path from the start.
What renewal costs
This guide does not quote the OFT's fees, because Queensland's fees move. The OFT's fair trading fees page states that its fees and charges increased by 3.4% on 1 July 2026 in line with the government's indexation policy, and that they typically increase on 1 July each year. The same page lists a separate figure for a 1-year and a 3-year term, for an individual licence, a corporate licence and a registration certificate, and a higher figure for restoration than for renewal in every case. A criminal history check fee is also charged on an application if the OFT has not run one on you within the last 6 months.
For the current amounts, our guide to what a QLD real estate licence costs sets out this year's renewal figures as a guide, and the OFT page carries the official schedule, including the restoration amounts. Check the figure before you pay, particularly if your renewal falls close to 1 July.
Your renewal checklist
Work through these in order, notice to approval.
- Confirm your expiry date on the OFT's online licence check.
- Work out your CPD year from your issue date and finish your 2 approved sessions.
- Decide whether to renew for 1 year or 3 years.
- Prepare the trust account audit report, or the statutory declaration in the OFT's wording if you did not manage a trust account.
- File your CPD proof of completion where you can find it for 5 years.
- Lodge through the individual or corporate portal, or in person or by post, and pay the fee in full.
- Answer any OFT request for more information promptly, so the application is not withdrawn.
Use the QLD CPD year calculator first if you are not sure where your CPD year sits, and enrol in both units through QLD CPD training if your sessions are still to do.
