Industry: The sector leaders spearheading innovation in property settlements

By Jarrod McAleese

The past decade has seen significant digitisation – today, the overwhelming majority of property transactions are facilitated electronically.

For all in the sector, practitioners, financial institutions, representative bodies and government alike, delivering the best possible customer experience is paramount.

And the degree of collaboration between these parties, for the benefit of consumers, is something unique to our local industry.

Throughout FY22, leaders from across the country have teamed up as part of our Member Advisory Councils (MACs), meeting quarterly to discuss key issues within the sector.

In this new initiative, inaugural members were elected thanks to their breadth of experience and leadership within the community – and chosen from a cross-section of local markets and business sizes to ensure a diverse range of voices were heard.

As we head into the final quarter of this financial year, we caught up with three of our MAC members to discuss why they’re passionate about the project, what lies ahead for industry and the future evolution of the council.

“The good faith of the participants and the transparency given by all involved has been of huge benefit. We are grateful the MAC has allowed us to be heard where we hold concerns and to hear the concerns of others during the council meetings. “A better appreciation and understanding of any pain points within the current process means the implementation of better, larger scale strategies across all of our practices – that will inevitably create a smoother process for all and positive outcomes for our clients. “It has been a pleasure to see the unity and understanding shown when participating in the open discussions between the many interested parties, all working together as a united group for betterment of the industry has been fantastic to see.”

“From PEXA’s tentative beginnings, the changes that we have since seen could not have been so seamless without the support and collaboration of all the stakeholders. “As a group, we’re committed to continually devising solutions to the challenges we will face moving forward – namely legislation, integration, economic and environmental issues. “Over time, I can foresee other stakeholders such as Environmental Planning Authorities, LGAs and architectural consultants playing a greater part in the Member Advisory Council.”

“There has been an incredible focus on user friendly developments and enhancements aimed at making the settlement process run as smoothly as possible. That’s where our role on the Council has been so fascinating and rewarding, being able to direct PEXA to where Queensland practitioners need the most assistance. “While there are many important parts of the industry that need attention (such has rising house prices, sustainability, housing shortages), my main focus centres around innovation. Moving forward, what I would like to see is regulatory bodies becoming better adapted and responsive to emerging innovation and technologies, which will help shape the future of our industry. “Clients want innovative ways of doing things. We need to keep being able to deliver on this, and I believe collaboration and innovation remains at the core of this approach going forward.” PEXA will soon begin accepting applications for FY23 membership – keep an eye out for our criteria and more information on the process in the coming months.