What a Conveyancer Does in Australia: A Buyer’s Guide

Who can handle your conveyancing, and how much time you have to reconsider after signing, depends on where you buy. In Queensland, paid conveyancing work is restricted to solicitors and law practices, though you may still do your own. In Western Australia and Tasmania, a residential contract generally binds on signing, with no statutory cooling-off period. Differences like these decide when to seek advice, who to appoint, and whether the contract has to be reviewed before you sign or bid. It is not the same across Australia, which is why this guide works state by state.

What does a conveyancer actually do?

A conveyancer gets you through the legal requirements of buying, handles most of the paperwork, and explains what you're signing. Moneysmart, the Australian Government's money guidance service, puts it plainly. A conveyancer "helps you meet all legal requirements involved with purchasing your home," will "handle most of the paperwork," and will "review and explain the terms and conditions of the contract."

The word itself describes the job. In New South Wales, the government's guidance calls conveyancing "the legal work involved in preparing a sales contract, mortgage and other related documents." Consumer Affairs Victoria (2026) frames it from the other end, as "the transfer of ownership of a property from a seller to a buyer." The Queensland Government (2024) is the most concrete of the three. There, conveyancing "involves all steps necessary to ensure that the registration of the land is in the name of the buyer at the government's land title office."

Put those together and you have the whole job. Read and explain the contract. Do the searches. Handle the money and the paperwork. Get your name on the title.

In Western Australia the job exists but the profession has a different name. Consumer Protection WA (2026) describes settlement agents as professionals who "facilitate the legal transfer of property ownership from the seller to the buyer."

Do you actually need a conveyancer?

Victoria and Queensland both say plainly that you can do it yourself. Whether that's a good idea is a different question, and those two regulators are unusually blunt about the trade-off.

Consumer Affairs Victoria (2026) allows do-it-yourself conveyancing and then names the cost of it in one line: "you will not have a legal practitioner's or conveyancer's professional indemnity insurance if something goes wrong." That's the real calculation. You're not paying for form-filling. You're paying for someone who carries insurance against their own mistake.

Queensland says the same thing from a different angle. The Queensland Government (2024) confirms "you may do your own conveyancing or have it done for you," then immediately adds: "you should get legal advice even if you plan to do your own conveyancing."

Insurance is also why the NSW position is worth knowing before you choose. There, both solicitors and licensed conveyancers "must have professional indemnity insurance to protect you if they make a mistake or are negligent in their work" (NSW Government). And if a conveyancer mishandles your money, you "may have access to the Compensation Fund administered by NSW Fair Trading."

Cost usually comes into it too. Fees are charged as a professional fee plus disbursements, the out-of-pocket costs of the searches and registrations, and we've set out how much a conveyancer costs separately. For the longer version of the do-it-yourself question, see whether you legally need one.

Who can legally act for you, state by state?

New South Wales and Victoria treat a licensed conveyancer and a solicitor as alternatives. Queensland doesn't allow conveyancers to do the work for a fee at all. Western Australia uses a licensed settlement agent instead.

In New South Wales, the government's guidance is a single sentence with no hedging: "Conveyancers and solicitors are equally qualified to do conveyancing." Conveyancers there are licensed under the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003, and the licence requirement "does not apply to an incorporated legal practice or solicitor corporation, such as a law firm."

Victoria draws the line by definition. Consumer Affairs Victoria (2026) describes a licensed conveyancer as "a person other than a legal practitioner, licensed to undertake conveyancing work" who can "do legal work or give legal advice about the transfer of title." So in Victoria, a conveyancer is by definition not a lawyer. Both can do the transfer.

The two outliers: Queensland and Western Australia

Queensland is the outlier, and it matters. The Legal Services Commission of Queensland (2023) states that "conveyancing is a legal service in Queensland and can only be provided by qualified and licensed solicitors and law practices." If you're buying in Queensland and someone offers you cut-price conveyancing without being a solicitor, that's the problem, not a bargain.

Who may legally act for you, by state

State	Licensed conveyancer?	Solicitor?	Regulator or Act
NSW	Yes, equally qualified	Yes	Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 · NSW Fair Trading
VIC	Yes, licensed separately from legal practitioners	Yes	Consumer Affairs Victoria
QLD	No, not for a fee	Yes, solicitors and law practices only	Legal Services Commission (Qld)
SA	Yes, must be registered	Yes, a legal practitioner may act	Conveyancers Act 1994 (SA), Part 2
WA	Settlement agent instead	Yes, a certified legal practitioner	Consumer Protection WA
TAS	Yes, licensed	Yes	Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016 · CBOS
NT	Yes, licensed conveyancing agent	Yes	Registrar of Land, Business and Conveyancing Agents · NT Government
ACT	No separate licence	Yes, and conveyancing is done by solicitors	Agents Act 2003 · Access Canberra

In South Australia, conveyancers "are required to be registered pursuant to Part 2 of the Conveyancers Act 1994 (SA)" (Legal Services Commission of South Australia, 2026), and a solicitor may act as well. In Western Australia there are two lawful routes: holding a settlement agent licence issued by Consumer Protection, or being a certified legal practitioner (Consumer Protection WA, 2026).

Tasmania and the Northern Territory both license a conveyancer as an alternative to a solicitor: Tasmania under the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016 (CBOS), the Northern Territory through a conveyancing agent approved by the Registrar of Land, Business and Conveyancing Agents (NT Government, 2026). The ACT is the exception in the other direction. It has no separate licence for a non-lawyer conveyancer, so conveyancing there is done by a solicitor; the Agents Act 2003 licenses real-estate, business and stock agents, not conveyancers.

Where the choice is actually a choice

The practical upshot: the choice between a conveyancer and a solicitor is only a real choice in some states. Where it is, cost and complexity usually decide it, and we've compared them in detail in conveyancer vs solicitor.

When should you appoint a conveyancer?

Before you sign or bid, not after. The highest-value thing a conveyancer does is read the contract before you're bound by it, while you can still walk away or renegotiate; at auction there is no cooling-off period to fall back on afterward.

Two situations turn that from sensible into urgent. If you're bidding at auction, there's no cooling-off period in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the ACT or the Northern Territory, and Victoria excludes the three days either side of one. The contract review has to happen before you raise your hand, because there's no window afterwards. And if you're buying in Western Australia or Tasmania, there's no statutory cooling-off period at all, so unless one is written into the contract, it binds on signing.

Queensland now builds the timing into the law from the other direction: the seller has to hand over their disclosure documents before you sign, not after. More on that below. Either way, someone needs to be ready to read them when they arrive.

So the sequence that protects you looks like this:

1. While you’re still inspecting. Choose your conveyancer or solicitor. Don’t wait until you’ve decided on a property.
2. As soon as you’re seriously interested. Send them the contract and the vendor’s disclosure documents. In Victoria that’s the section 32 statement; in New South Wales, the contract with its planning certificate attached.
3. Before you sign or bid. Get their comments back. This is the step that’s worth the fee.
4. After signing. They run the searches, handle the money and get the title transferred.

Only step four is what most people picture when they think about conveyancing. Steps one to three are where a problem is still cheap to walk away from.

What does your conveyancer check in the contract?

They check the documents that describe what you're legally buying, and each state has its own version of that paperwork.

In New South Wales, the Conveyancing Act 1919 requires a planning certificate to be attached to the contract for sale, and it's more useful to a buyer than its dull name suggests. A section 10.7(2) certificate shows the property's zoning and planning controls, plus constraints "such as land contamination, level of flooding and bushfire prone land" (NSW Planning Portal, 2023). The fuller 10.7(2) and (5) version adds "advice from other authorities and certain information a Council holds on a property." We've written a full guide to reading planning certificates and overlays.

Victoria's equivalent is the section 32 vendor statement. Consumer Affairs Victoria (2026) says it contains information about the property's title "including: mortgages, covenants, easements, zoning, outgoings (for example, rates), declaration if located in a bushfire-prone area." Note what's in that list: easements on the title, zoning, and bushfire status. The legal document and the physical risk overlap.

And Victoria attaches teeth to it. If the statement "contains incorrect or insufficient information, a buyer may be able to withdraw from the sale or take legal action against you," the regulator warns sellers (Consumer Affairs Victoria, 2026).

Queensland changed its rules recently, and in the buyer's favour. Since 1 August 2025, a seller must give the buyer "the completed disclosure statement and prescribed certificates" before the buyer signs the contract (Queensland Government, 2025). The consequence for getting that wrong is significant. If the seller doesn't provide the disclosure documents at all, the buyer "may be able to terminate the contract at any time up to settlement" (Queensland Government, 2025).

How long is cooling-off, and what does changing your mind cost?

Cooling-off is the window after signing when you can still get out of the contract. In New South Wales, for example, the government describes it as "a 5 business day cooling-off period after you exchange contracts", meaning the moment the signed contracts are formally swapped. Its length depends entirely on where you're buying, and in two places, Western Australia and Tasmania, there's no statutory period at all.

Victoria's three days applies to private sales; South Australia's two days run from service of the Form 1; the Northern Territory's four days apply to non-auction sales. Western Australia and Tasmania have no statutory cooling-off period, so a right to cool off exists there only if it's written into the contract.

New South Wales runs 5 business days. That extends to 10 business days for off-the-plan contracts, and drops to none at all if you buy at auction (NSW Government). Queensland also runs 5 business days, starting "the day you get a copy of the signed contract (signed by both parties)" (Queensland Government, 2020). There, it can also be waived or shortened by written notice to the seller or their agent.

Victoria's window is shorter: "three clear business days for private sales of residential and small rural properties, regardless of price" (Consumer Affairs Victoria, 2022). The exclusions are broad, though. There's no cooling-off period where:

• the property is bought at auction, or within three clear business days either side of a public auction;
• it's used mainly for industrial or commercial purposes;
• it's more than 20 hectares and used mainly for farming; or
• the buyer is an estate agent or a corporate body.

South Australia is shortest of all, and its clock starts from a document rather than from signing. The Form 1 is the vendor's statement, and the Legal Services Commission of South Australia describes the clock as running from the day it is served on the purchaser. Once it's served, the window "expires at the end of the second clear business day," excluding weekends, public holidays and the day of service (Legal Services Commission of South Australia).

Both territories sit at either end of that range. The ACT gives a buyer five working days, which exclude weekends and public holidays exactly as business days do, ending at 5pm on the fifth working day after the contract is made, and withdrawing costs 0.25% of the purchase price (Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, ss 12, 15). As in the states, there's no cooling-off at auction, by tender, or for a corporate buyer. The Northern Territory gives four business days for any sale not made at auction, and there it costs nothing: the buyer "can cancel the contract of sale without penalty or explanation" (NT Government, 2026). In both territories the period can be waived, shortened or extended by agreement.

Western Australia and Tasmania are the two with no statutory period at all. Consumer Protection WA is emphatic: "Once the contract has been signed, there is NO cooling off period in Western Australia," and "the property contract is legally binding at signing" (Consumer Protection WA, 2024). Tasmania is the same by omission: cooling-off periods "are not a requirement under the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016" (CBOS, 2026). In either place a right to cool off exists only if the buyer and seller wrote one into the contract, and in Tasmania that means electing the optional clause in the standard contract.

What backing out actually costs

Walking away isn't free. Where a cooling-off window exists, the jurisdiction caps the cost rather than leaving it open-ended. In New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT it's a share of the purchase price; in Victoria it's the greater of $100 or 0.2%; in South Australia the vendor keeps no more than $100; and in the Northern Territory it costs nothing at all.

Cooling-off period and what withdrawing costs, by state and territory

State / territory	Cooling-off	What withdrawing costs you
NSW	5 business days (10 off-the-plan, none at auction)	0.25% of the purchase price
QLD	5 business days (none at auction)	Up to 0.25% of the purchase price
ACT	5 working days (none at auction, tender or for a company)	0.25% of the purchase price
NT	4 business days (non-auction sales)	Nothing — no penalty
VIC	3 clear business days (private sale)	The greater of $100 or 0.2% of the price
SA	2 clear business days from Form 1 service	Vendor may keep up to $100
WA	None (statutory)	Not applicable
TAS	None (statutory); optional clause in the standard contract	Not applicable

On a $900,000 purchase in New South Wales, 0.25% is $2,250. Worth knowing before you sign, and worth weighing against the cost of a contract review you skipped.

What changed in NSW on 1 June 2026

If you're buying in New South Wales right now, your contract should use the new prescribed cooling-off notice, and that's where a contract signed last year will look different.

The form of the cooling-off notice changed on 15 August 2025, with a transitional period letting either version be used for contracts exchanged on or before 31 May 2026 (NSW Registrar General). That transition is over. Contracts "exchanged on and from 1 June 2026 will need to include the new form."

A more recent change is worth knowing. Vendor disclosure and cooling-off protections now extend to options, both "an option to purchase residential property" and "an option to compel the purchase of residential property," commonly called a put option. But a contract that comes into existence by exercising either kind of option has no cooling-off period at all (NSW Registrar General, 2025).

So if you're being offered an option agreement rather than a straight contract, the safety net you'd have in an ordinary purchase isn't there. That's a question for your conveyancer or solicitor before you sign anything, not after.

One more NSW-specific thing, and it explains why your conveyancer may never hand you a paper certificate of title. Since 11 October 2021, "paper dealings will no longer be accepted for lodgment and only electronic dealings will be accepted" in that state (NSW Registrar General). That's a NSW rule, not a national one.

The half your conveyancer doesn't cover

Here's the gap worth understanding, because it's the one that costs buyers money after settlement.

Within the scope you agree, your conveyancer or solicitor works through the legal record. What's on the title. What the contract says. Whether there's an easement, a covenant, a caveat. What the planning certificate or the vendor statement discloses.

What a document review doesn't tell you is what living there is actually like, or what the site itself is exposed to. An easement gets confirmed on the title; whether the drainage line running through the back yard floods in heavy rain is a different question. A planning certificate notes bushfire-prone land; how exposed this particular block is, on this slope, with this vegetation, is a different question again.

Some of that you can appoint others to check, and should: a building and pest inspector, a surveyor, a specialist report where a risk is flagged. But someone has to decide what's worth commissioning and how the answers add up, and that judgment is the buyer's. Before you hand a contract to your conveyancer, it's worth knowing the site risks to check before you sign.

The short version

A conveyancer or solicitor handles the legal transfer and, more valuably, tells you what's in the contract before you're committed to it. Who can legally do that work depends on your state or territory. So does how long you have to change your mind, and in Western Australia and Tasmania the answer is that, unless it's in the contract, you can't.

Appoint someone early and get the contract reviewed before you sign or bid. Then be clear about the division of labour. Your conveyancer or solicitor works through the legal record; the physical site, and what's worth commissioning to check it, is the call you make.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Moneysmart (ASIC), Glossary: conveyancer, undated, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://moneysmart.gov.au/glossary/conveyancer
• NSW Government, Conveyancing for property buyers and sellers, undated, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/buying-and-selling-property/conveyancing-for-property-buyers-and-sellers
• NSW Government, Conveyancers (property professionals), undated, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/property-professionals/conveyancers
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• NSW Registrar General, Cancellation of certificates of title and 100% eConveyancing from 11 Oct 2021, 2 July 2021, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.registrargeneral.nsw.gov.au/news/cancellation-of-certificates-of-title-and-100-econveyancing-from-11-oct-2021
• NSW Planning Portal (Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure), Online Section 10.7 Planning Certificate Service, 14 December 2023, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/development-and-assessment/post-consent-certificates/online-section-107-planning-certificate-service
• Consumer Affairs Victoria, Conveyancing and contracts for sellers, 1 April 2026, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/buying-and-selling-property/selling-property/conveyancing-and-contracts-for-sellers
• Consumer Affairs Victoria, Selling property by private sale, 9 September 2022, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/buying-and-selling-property/selling-property/selling-property-by-private-sale
• Legal Services Commission (Queensland), Media release: LSC v Elev8, 21 July 2023, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.lsc.qld.gov.au/about-the-commission/our-news/media-release-lsc-v-elev8
• Queensland Government, Property ownership laws, 3 December 2024, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.qld.gov.au/law/your-rights/legal-and-property-rights/property-ownership-laws
• Queensland Government, Cooling-off period, 28 October 2020, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/buying-and-selling-a-property/buying-a-home/making-an-offer-on-a-home/cooling-off-period
• Queensland Government, Seller disclosure scheme, 21 July 2025, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/buying-and-selling-a-property/seller-disclosure-scheme
• Consumer Protection WA (DEMIRS), Settlement agents, 1 January 2026, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.consumerprotection.wa.gov.au/settlement-agents
• Consumer Protection WA (DEMIRS), Home buyers glossary, 19 November 2024, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://www.consumerprotection.wa.gov.au/home-buyers-glossary
• Legal Services Commission of South Australia, Law Handbook SA: Land agents and conveyancers, 23 June 2026, retrieved 2026-08-10, https://lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch23s08s02.php
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• NT Government, Contract of sale, undated, retrieved 2026-09-02, https://nt.gov.au/property/buying-and-selling-a-home/get-help-with-the-contract/contract-of-sale
• Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS), Tasmanian Government, Advice when buying or selling property, 20 July 2026, retrieved 2026-09-02, https://www.cbos.tas.gov.au/topics/housing/buying-selling-property/advice-buying-selling-property
• ACT Legislation Register, Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 (ss 12, 15), retrieved 2026-09-08, https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/2003-40/
• Access Canberra, Licensing for business, real estate and stock and station agents, undated, retrieved 2026-09-02, https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/business-and-work/real-estate-and-property/licensing-for-business-real-estate-and-stock-and-station-agents

Daniel Ryan, Editor, Buyer Guides & Property, knest.ai

General information only. This article is general information for Australian home buyers. It isn’t personal legal, financial, credit or tax advice, and it isn’t a property valuation. Rules differ by state and change over time, so check your own situation with a licensed conveyancer or solicitor in the relevant state. knest.ai is an AI property-intelligence platform that supports buyer judgment. It isn’t a conveyancer, a solicitor or a legal service, and it doesn’t replace one.

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