The licence, what it took, and what it does not let me do
What the Queensland licence actually required, and the four things it does not authorise anyone to do for you.
Licence 4963575 · Member, Australian Institute of Business Brokers · Last updated 15 September 2026.
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Three tests, nineteen units, and obligations that do not stop once it is issued
The first test is eligibility. A person applying for a full Queensland Office of Fair Trading licence must be 18 or older. The second is suitability, and the Office of Fair Trading applies it in the negative: an applicant must not be “an insolvent under administration”, must not be “currently disqualified from holding a licence or registration certificate”, and must not have been convicted of “a serious offence within the past 5 years”. Criminal history, previous insolvency of corporations where the applicant was an executive officer, claim fund actions, licence cancellations, director disqualifications and character are all weighed. The third is education: 19 units of nationally recognised training, drawn from the Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice and the Diploma of Property (Agency Management), completed through a registered training organisation. The Office of Fair Trading states processing takes 4 to 6 weeks, at a fee of $1,709.00 for 1 year or $3,205.00 for 3 years for an individual new application from 1 July 2026.
The obligations continue after the licence is in hand. Section 102 of the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld) requires a written appointment before an agent acts, maximum penalty 200 penalty units, and for a business sale the approved form is the PO Form 6A. Section 89 then bars a person from suing for, recovering or keeping a reward unless they held the appropriate licence, were authorised under it and were properly appointed. Client money falls under the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 (Qld): into the trust account before the end of the first business day after receipt under section 16, out of reach of the agent’s creditors under section 20, an auditor appointed within 1 month of the account opening under section 30, and the accounts audited and the signed report filed within 4 months after the last day of the audit month under sections 35 and 40. A continuing professional development obligation also attaches to the licence. The Queensland Government pages describing it could not be retrieved when this was checked on 14 August 2026, so no session count and no CPD year dates are stated here.
Now what the licence does not signify, because that is the half nobody publishes. It does not certify competence at selling a business: it is an authority to act, granted after a suitability test and a training requirement, and none of the 19 units is a business valuation, business broking or financial statement analysis unit. It does not evidence a single completed sale, because no field on the register records one. It does not authorise tax advice, which is governed by the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth), or legal practice, which is governed by section 24 of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld). And it does not extend to a sale of shares, because section 764A(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) makes a share in a body a financial product and a different licence governs that. The licence is a floor. It is the thing that makes acting lawful, not the thing that makes acting good.
What a licensed business broker is not allowed to do for you
A market appraisal is an opinion of likely selling price. A formal valuation for a court, a tax position, a family law matter or a shareholder dispute is a different exercise carried out by a registered valuer or a qualified accountant. The distinction is not modesty. It is the difference between a document that supports a marketing decision and a document that is meant to be relied on by a third party.
Tax advice is regulated federally. Charging for a tax agent service without registration attracts a civil penalty of up to 250 penalty units for an individual under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth), which is $91,000 at the Commonwealth penalty unit value of $364 from 1 July 2026. Whether the person advising you on the tax treatment of your sale may charge for it is free to check on the Tax Practitioners Board register.
Legal practice is regulated in Queensland. Section 24 of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) makes engaging in legal practice without being an Australian legal practitioner an offence, with a maximum of 300 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment, being $51,810 at the Queensland penalty unit value of $172.70 from 1 July 2026. Section 24(4) adds that a person who breaches it “is not entitled to recover any amount” for the work. Sections 24(3A) to (3E) carve out a Property Occupations Act licensee completing an approved contract, and that is the whole of the carve out.
Share sales are the fourth line. Section 764A(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) makes a share in a body a financial product, section 766C makes arranging for a person to acquire or dispose of one a dealing, and ASIC Regulatory Guide 36 at RG 36.42 defines arranging as bringing “into effect the issue, variation, disposal or acquisition of, or application for, a financial product”. No Australian financial services licence is held here, so a share sale is scoped out of the engagement and referred on. You can verify that free on the ASIC professional registers at service.asic.gov.au.
Ask what it is worth
Free, in writing, and nobody finds out you asked. Tell me the trade and the suburb and I will do the rest.
Nobody finds out you are selling. This goes to me only, into my own database in Sydney. I will not contact your accountant, your landlord, your bank or your staff, ever, unless you ask me to.
If you would rather not put anything in writing yet, ring 0431 124 128. Prefer to pick a time yourself? Book a time in my diary.
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