Real Estate Consumer Education (Sort Of) In South Australia

by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.B Queensland Solicitor & Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au

This article is a follow-up to Neil Jenman’s exposure of the South Australian government’s failure to implement promised real estate reforms in that State.

In July 2004, some nine months after the South Australian government announced that it had researched and accepted findings by John Rau M.P. and would bring in significant reforms “for the sake of consumers”, that State’s Office of Consumer and Business Affairs (OCBA) produced a booklet entitled “Buying or Selling a Home”. While the Rau reforms remain on hold, this booklet is intended as a guide for consumers who get an early warning that the booklet is “not a comprehensive account of the law or a substitute for professional advice.” Sadly, it begins with this consumer-unfriendly disclaimer: “Although the information in this booklet has been researched and presented with due care, OCBA accepts no responsibility for any errors or omissions which may have occurred within the publication.”

What follows is a selection of statements from this “guide” together with my caustic comments in brackets.

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