When to Book NSW Real Estate CPD: Deadline, Renewal and Timing

NSW real estate CPD is due by 30 June. The CPD year runs from 1 July to 30 June, so for 2026–27 you have until 30 June 2027 to finish your compulsory topics with an approved provider. The session dates you see advertised through the year aren’t deadlines. They’re just when providers happen to run training.

So the real question is when to book, and the short answer is the first session that fits your diary, well before June. Here’s why leaving it late costs more than it saves, how CPD fits your licence renewal, and how an office can plan everyone at once.

When is NSW real estate CPD due?

Fair Trading sets one CPD year for every licence and certificate holder. It starts on 1 July and ends on 30 June the following year, and your compulsory CPD needs to be done inside that window.

There’s no carry-over. For most licences, hours you complete this year can’t be rolled into next year (assistant agents are the one published exception). Finishing early is perfectly fine, but it clears this year’s requirement rather than banking hours for the next.

Your compulsory topics must come from an approved provider, in an interactive format that includes an assessment. That means face-to-face training or a live interactive webinar, and a live webinar counts in full. If you work in residential sales or as a buyer’s agent, you need 7 hours across 4 compulsory topics, and the topics differ between the two. Our guide to NSW CPD requirements sets out each pathway.

Deadlines versus session dates

Providers publish session dates right through the year, and it’s easy to read one as a cut-off. It isn’t. Missing a particular session doesn’t mean you’ve missed CPD. It just means you pick another one.

Each provider runs its own calendar, so plan around the Fair Trading year rather than any one provider’s timetable. What matters is that your compulsory topics are finished by 30 June and that the training meets the interactive rules. When you’re ready to look, current dates for our sessions are on the courses page linked at the end of this guide.

Why it pays not to leave CPD until June

Booking late feels efficient until something goes wrong. A few things make the last months of the CPD year harder than they look:

• Seats are capped. Fair Trading limits interactive webinars to 25 people and face-to-face sessions to 40, so places in the final stretch go quickly as the rest of the state catches up.
• There’s no slack. A sick day, an auction that moves, or an assessment you need to redo is easy to absorb early in the year. Near the deadline, it can push you past it.
• Class 1 holders have more to fit in. The accredited forum sits on top of core CPD, so leaving everything late means squeezing two bookings into the same few weeks.

It’s also worth knowing what’s at stake, without losing sleep over it. Fair Trading says that not meeting your CPD requirements may lead to a penalty, or the suspension or cancellation of your licence, and a court penalty of up to $11,000 may also apply. Our guide to what happens if your agency misses CPD covers that in more detail. The practical point is simple: booking early takes all of this off the table.

How CPD fits your licence renewal

There are two clocks running, and they don’t move together. Your licence has its own expiry date, based on the 1, 3 or 5 year term you chose. The CPD year runs from 1 July to 30 June regardless of when your licence is due.

They are linked, though. Fair Trading’s licence page says that to be eligible to renew your licence, you must complete CPD training each year. Fair Trading emails or posts your renewal form about 30 days before your expiry date, and you don’t want that notice to be the moment you realise last year’s CPD is unfinished.

If your licence comes up for renewal before 30 June, finishing that year’s CPD early means the renewal form never catches you out. Whenever it falls, the habit that keeps renewal simple is finishing each year’s CPD well before 30 June. Our guide to renewing your NSW real estate licence walks through the renewal itself.

If you hold a Class 1 licence

Class 1 holders do the same core CPD as everyone else on their pathway, and then add two things. The first is a Fair Trading accredited forum of at least 5 hours, on top of your core hours. The second is AUSTRAC’s AML/CTF course, which applies if you work in residential sales, as a buyer’s agent, in commercial, as a business broker or as a stock and station agent.

Treat these as separate items in your diary. A core CPD session won’t cover the forum, so book each one in its own right rather than assuming one session does it all. For the full picture, see Class 1 vs Class 2 CPD and our guide to the Class 1 accredited forum.

New to the industry or joined mid-year

If your licence commenced on or after 1 April in a CPD year, Fair Trading exempts you from CPD for that year. You’re still expected to keep your knowledge and skills up to date for the work you do, and you can still complete the topics if you want to.

If you started earlier than that, you owe the full year, even if you joined well after 1 July. In that case, booking early matters even more, because you have less of the year to work with. Our guide to mid-year starters and the agency CPD plan explains how an office handles new arrivals.

Planning CPD for a whole office

If you’re the licensee in charge, start with a simple list of who needs what. Note each person’s licence type and area of practice, because a salesperson and a buyer’s agent need different topics. If you have property managers on the team, they have their own list, covered in our guide to residential property manager CPD topics.

Then book early and split the team across two sessions. That way listings, inspections and auctions are still covered on training days, and nobody is left scrambling for a seat at the end of the year. Our guide to enrolling your whole office covers group bookings.

Once people finish, keep their completion records together. Licence holders need to keep CPD records for 3 years, and Fair Trading can ask to see them. Our guide to what CPD evidence a licensee in charge should keep goes through it.

Picking your session

For most residential salespeople and buyer’s agents, a two-day live webinar can cover all of your compulsory topics in one go. Our guide to finishing CPD in a two-day intake explains how that works.

Choose the first session that suits your diary, book it, and get it off your list. See current dates on our NSW CPD courses page.

Frequently asked questions

When is NSW real estate CPD due?

By 30 June each year. The CPD year runs from 1 July to 30 June, so for 2026–27 your compulsory CPD needs to be finished by 30 June 2027.

When is the best time to book my CPD?

As soon as you find a session that fits your diary, ideally well before May and June. Interactive webinars are capped at 25 people, sessions close to the 30 June deadline fill fastest, and booking early leaves room to reschedule if something comes up.

Can I do my CPD early in the year?

Yes. Any time inside the 1 July to 30 June CPD year counts. Hours don’t carry over to the next year for most licences, so finishing early clears this year’s requirement but doesn’t bank hours for the next one.

Can I do NSW real estate CPD online?

Yes, through a live interactive webinar with an approved provider. Fair Trading requires compulsory topics to be interactive with an assessment, so self-paced online modules on their own don’t meet the requirement, but a live webinar does.

Do I need to finish CPD before I renew my licence?

You need to keep it up to date. Fair Trading says that to be eligible to renew your licence, you must complete CPD each year. Your licence expiry date and the CPD year are separate, so the simplest habit is to finish each year’s CPD well before 30 June.

I hold a Class 1 licence. Is core CPD enough?

No. Class 1 licence holders also need to attend a Fair Trading accredited forum of at least 5 hours on top of their core CPD, and AUSTRAC’s AML/CTF course applies too. It’s worth booking the forum separately from your core sessions.

What happens if I miss the 30 June deadline?

Not meeting your CPD requirements can lead to a penalty, or the suspension or cancellation of your licence, and Fair Trading notes a court penalty of up to $11,000 may apply. If you’re running late, book the next available approved session rather than waiting.

How should an agency plan CPD for its team?

Start by listing each person’s licence type and area of practice, then book early and split the team across two sessions so the office stays covered. Keep everyone’s completion records, since licence holders need to keep them for 3 years.