The REIA, on behalf of the state and territory Real Estate Institutes, has made a submission to the Fair Work Commission to vary the Real Estate Industry Award 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to keep as many real estate salespeople employed as possible.
“Currently the Award requires that an agent make at least $54.5k pa – the Minimum Income Threshold Amount (MITA) – for the previous three years before they can be employed on a commission-only basis”, said Mr Adrian Kelly, President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia.
“REIA has requested that the Commission agrees to a halving of the MITA in the current circumstances to keep as many of these agents employed as possible”.
“If this isn’t agreed to, with the certainty of decreased sales activity, these agents are at risk of being stood down as agencies struggle to stay open as long as they can”.
“Feedback REIA has had from its member state and territory Real Estate Institutes suggests that these agents would prefer to have the opportunity to continue to work.
“In response to this situation, REIA proposes that the current MITA provisions of the Award be changed to 50% of those currently in place for the duration of the Coronavirus crisis.”
“This is an approach that encapsulates the spirit and intent of the Government’s initiatives of sharing the burden,” concluded Mr Kelly.
