Commercial agent licence

Commercial agents who have face-to-face contact with customers (field agents) and employers of field agents need to hold a Commercial Agent licence to perform the following activities:

• debt collection
• process serving (serving legal process to a person on behalf of a client)
• repossession of goods.

If you are a commercial agent who does not carry out face-to-face activity, you do not need a licence. However, you must:

• not be a disqualified person, and
• comply with the commercial agent rules.

How field agents and face-to-face activities are defined

Commercial agents who perform their duties on a face-to-face basis are known as field agents.

Face-to-face activities include:

• approaching a person and/or visiting the place they live or work to collect debts
• repossess goods, or
• serve legal documents.

Phone or video communication is not considered ‘face-to-face' contact.

Eligibility requirements for Commercial Agent licence holders

There are a series of requirements you must meet to hold a Commercial Agent licence. Some of these will happen automatically and others will require you to supply documents as part of your application.

You will also need to complete a National Police Check before you apply.

Checks that will happen automatically include:

• a bankruptcy check through Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA),
• an insolvency check through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and
• details check through the Australian Business Register.

To get a Commercial Agent licence, you must:

• not be a disqualified person, and
• be ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence.

Who is a disqualified person

A person or corporation is a disqualified person for the purposes of undertaking commercial agent work if:

• they are a person under 18 years of age
• they are an undischarged bankrupt, or is taking advantage of bankruptcy laws
• they are a corporation subject of a winding-up order (with limited exceptions)
• they are a person convicted of a relevant offence within the last 5 years, and been sentenced to imprisonment or received a fine of $5,000 or more
• they are subject to an exclusion order
• the person is a controlled member of a declared organisation.

Relevant offences are listed in the Fair Trading Act 1987 (Act) and include:

• violence
• harassment
• intimidation
• weapons
• drugs
• dishonesty.

Who is fit and proper to hold a licence

The NSW Fair Trading Commissioner may consider the following criteria to determine whether a person is 'fit and proper' to hold a commercial agent licence:

• Are they mentally incapacitated as defined under the Mental Health Act 2007?
• Are they a disqualified person?
• Are they disqualified from holding any other licence, permit or other authority administered by the Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading?
• Have they failed to pay a fine imposed under Part 5 of the Fair Trading Act 1987 or failed to comply with a direction under that Part?
• Have they held a commercial agent licence under this Act, or a master or operator licence for debt collection, process serving or repossession of goods under the Commercial Agents and Private Inquiry Act 2004 (CAPI Act), and that licence was:
  • cancelled within the last 5 years (and the person hasn’t held a licence/authorisation since), or
  • suspended and the suspension period has not expired?
• Have they been authorised to carry out an activity under another Act administered by NSW Fair Trading that:
  • was cancelled within the last 5 years (and the person has not held a licence/authorisation since), or
  • was suspended?
• Have they held a licence to carry out commercial agent activity from another State or Territory that:
  • was cancelled within the last 5 years (and the person has not held a licence since)
  • was suspended, or
  • have they been convicted of a relevant offence within the previous 10 years?

An assessment against these criteria will be undertaken as part of your licence application.

What you will need when making an application

Before you begin your application, make sure you have done the following:

• Read the eligibility criteria and meet the requirements – you will need to demonstrate that you are ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence and are not disqualified.
• An Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) accredited  National Police Check for you as an individual – this must be no older than 6 weeks at the time of submitting your application. You can apply for a National Police Certificate online or through an ACIC accredited provider. A digital certificate will be emailed to you on finalisation of your check. A hard copy certificate can also be posted to you for an additional fee.
• National Police Check for every director, secretary, or officer if it is a corporation.
• Proof of identity, such as an NSW drivers licence or Medicare card.
• Payment for the licence fee.

Finger or palm prints are not required to be taken for a Commercial Agent licence application.

Commercial Agent requirements for corporations and partnerships

• For a corporation, one of your directors, secretaries, or officers must be the person who makes the application using your Service NSW profile.
• For a corporation that employs commercial agents who carry out field work, each and every director, secretary and officer of the corporation must be included in the assessment of your licence application. This includes a National Police Check for each and every director, secretary or officer of the corporation.
• If you are a director, secretary, or officer of a corporation and need to conduct work as a field agent, you must apply for an individual Commercial Agent licence in your own name.
• A partnership cannot hold a Commercial Agent licence. However, if you are a partner in a business, you can apply for a licence as an individual or a corporation, if each partner in the business is fit and proper to hold a licence.

How to apply

Change of details

If you hold a Commercial Agent licence and your details have changed, for example name, address, or officer of the corporation, you can update these details by completing the relevant change of details form and lodging it with the required supporting documents at a Service NSW centre.

You must notify us about a change of details within 14 days.

Renew or restore your Commercial Agent licence

If your Commercial Agent licence issued by NSW Fair Trading is about to expire, you will need to apply to renew your licence by completing an online renewal application.

If the licence issued by NSW Fair Trading has expired:

• within 90 days after the licence expiry date, you can apply to restore the licence by completing an online renewal application – you may need to pay a restoration fee
• more than 90 days past the expiry date, you'll need to reapply for the licence.

A renewal notice will be emailed to you approximately 60 days prior to expiry of your Commercial Agent licence. This will contain your current licence number, and your renewal number needed for the online application. If you have not received a renewal notice approximately 60 days prior to expiry, please contact 13 32 20.

You can renew or restore your licence for a period of 1, 3, or 5 years.

If you hold a Commercial Agent licence under the repealed CAPI Act previously administered by NSW Police, you cannot renew or restore this licence with NSW Fair Trading.

If you are a field agent or employ field agents under the CAPI Act, you will need to apply for a new Commercial Agent licence issued by NSW Fair Trading. You must apply for a new licence with NSW Fair Trading prior to the expiry of your NSW Police-issued licence or before the 30th of June 2023 (whichever is sooner).

Who is eligible to renew or restore their licence

How to renew or restore your licence

Before you begin your renewal or restoration application, make sure you have received your renewal notice and gathered the relevant information that includes:

• a licence number
• a renewal number.

Make sure you read the eligibility criteria and meet the requirements. You will need to demonstrate that you are ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence and are not disqualified and must have:

• an ACIC accredited National Police Check for you as an individual – this must be no older than 6 weeks at the time of submitting your application. You can apply for a National Police Certificate online or through an ACIC accredited provider. A digital certificate will be emailed to you on finalisation of your check. A hard copy certificate can also be posted to you for an additional fee
• a National Police Check for each director, secretary, or officer if it is a corporation
• Proof of identity, such as an NSW driver licence or Medicare card
• paid the licence fee.

Finger or palm prints are not required to be taken for a Commercial Agent licence application.

Corporations and partnerships

For a corporation, one of your directors, secretaries, or officers must be the person who makes the application using their Service NSW profile.

The person making the application must complete a consent form and have it signed by all relevant officers of the corporation. This must be completed prior to and uploaded as supporting documentation for the application.

• For a corporation that employs commercial agents who carry out field work, each director, secretary and officer of the corporation must be included in the assessment of your licence application. This includes a National Police Check for each director, secretary, or officer of the corporation.
• If you are a director, secretary, or other officer of a corporation and need to conduct work as a field agent, you must apply for an individual Commercial Agent licence in your own name.
• A partnership cannot hold a Commercial Agent licence. However, if you are a partner in a business, you can apply for a licence as an individual or a corporation, if each partner in the business is fit and proper to hold a licence.

Replacing a licence

Who is eligible to apply for a replacement licence

Working interstate and mutual recognition

There are different ways to make it easier for many licensed or registered professionals to work interstate.

Qualifications from overseas are not approved for licensing in NSW.

Automatic mutual recognition

Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) allows individuals who hold equivalent licences issued in other Australian States and Territories to work in NSW under that licence. Recognised interstate licensees will not need an NSW licence unless they relocate from their primary place of residence to NSW (please note: Queensland is not a participating state).

Commercial agent activities are included in the AMR scheme in NSW. Interstate commercial agents are required to notify NSW Fair Trading of their intention to work in NSW under AMR.

While working in NSW, a recognised interstate licensee must follow the same laws as NSW licence holders. NSW Fair Trading can take disciplinary and enforcement action if these obligations are not met.

The AMR scheme does not apply to New Zealand licences. However, existing processes under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangements continue to apply.

If not eligible, other licence holders may still be able to apply under mutual recognition to have their licence recognised in NSW.

Mutual recognition

Mutual recognition (MR) arrangements enable a licensed professional to work in another state or territory by having their qualifications recognised in NSW, and vice versa. Currently, the participating states/territories are NSW, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

If you hold a current and equivalent interstate Commercial Agent licence, you may be eligible to apply for an NSW licence under mutual recognition if the activities you're authorised to carry out are substantially the same.

To apply for recognition of your existing licence, you will need:

• a completed Interstate Mutual Recognition Form
• your current interstate licence
• 2 proof of identity types, including one with your photo (original versions)
• payment of the fee.

Applications, payment and supporting documents must be lodged at a Service NSW Centre.

Public register

NSW Fair Trading keeps a public register of all licensed commercial agents.

The register lists:

• your name
• your business address
• your licence details, including the type of licence, licence number, issue date and expiry date.

The register includes information on suspended and cancelled licences, and any disciplinary action taken against a licence holder.