Sell property online · screen 4 of 5
Electronic settlement: where it is required, state by state
In NSW every land transaction that has to be lodged with NSW Land Registry Services has been done electronically since 11 October 2021, and in Queensland the main documents, including a transfer, have had to be lodged electronically since 20 February 2023 unless an exemption applies. Elsewhere it differs: Victoria says most land transactions are now electronic, Tasmania has offered electronic conveyancing since August 2024, and for most transfers since February 2025 (not those involving a personal representative), and the ACT still allows paper.
General information, not legal advice. Check with the NSW Registrar General, Titles Queensland or Access Canberra; a seller’s solicitor or licensed conveyancer settles the sale in practice.
How settlement moved onto screens
- 2013 · Queensland
Electronic conveyancing becomes available, on a voluntary basis, under the Electronic Conveyancing National Law (Queensland).
- 2017 · NSW
The move away from paper begins.
- 11 October 2021 · NSW
All land transactions that need lodging with NSW Land Registry Services must be lodged electronically.
- 20 February 2023 · Queensland
The mandate starts: certain documents must go through an Electronic Lodgment Network unless an exemption applies.
- August 2024 · Tasmania
Electronic conveyancing becomes available, through one approved network operator; most transfers follow from February 2025.
What happens in the network
NSW’s Registrar General describes electronic conveyancing as a way of conducting the settlement and lodgment stages of a transaction, in which lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions deal with each other online.
- VICElectronic lodgment uses an Electronic Lodgment Network to lodge documents with the Land Registry, and three networks are active in Victoria. Registration is completed in minutes for most transactions.
- QLDTwo network operators are approved, and they must meet strict IT security standards and regularly have outside certifiers confirm that they do.
- TASBecause a transaction draws its information straight from the Register, the Land Titles Office expects fewer errors and more protection against fraud.
The rules for the people using the networks come from a national model. ARNECC sets the Model Participation Rules, NSW’s Registrar General makes them apply in NSW and enforces them, and NSW Land Registry Services examines users to check they follow them. In Victoria the operators’ compliance is audited each year, and the Land Registry aims to audit each user at least every three years.
The same law, on a different medium
Moving a document onto a screen does not change what it has to say. Land Use Victoria reminds network users that the legal requirements for an electronic document are the same as for a paper one, and that users must make sure each lodgment contains every required document and certify that its information is correct.
What changes is where the evidence sits. Titles Queensland says the supporting papers usually lodged with a paper document are generally not lodged with an electronic one; the subscriber holds that evidence under the participation rules instead. Where a law says supporting evidence has to be deposited and the network cannot take it, the document goes on paper.
Can a seller acting alone settle on paper?
This is where the states differ most for someone selling without a lawyer or conveyancer.
| State | Electronic lodgment | A person acting alone |
|---|---|---|
| QLD | Required for a transfer, mortgage, release of mortgage and certain other documents since 20 February 2023, unless an exemption applies. | An individual who is not a network subscriber and has no lawyer is exempt and may lodge on paper, with a completed Exemption Request Form. |
| ACT | Optional: paper documents and in-person processes can still be used. | Cannot use the platform; participants must meet an insurance threshold it would be unreasonable to expect of individuals, and documents are lodged in person. |
| NSW | Required for all lodgments with NSW Land Registry Services since 11 October 2021. | Not stated in the sources behind this guide. |
| VIC | Most land transactions are electronic, lodged by banks, conveyancers or lawyers. | Not stated here. Land Use Victoria highly recommends consulting an Australian legal practitioner or licensed conveyancer. |
| TAS | Available since August 2024; for most transfers, since February 2025 (not those involving a personal representative). | To lodge electronically, a person has to become a subscriber to a network. |
Queensland adds two more exemptions: a whole day without internet access or without the network, and documents the networks cannot yet handle. Western Australia is outside this guide; Consumer Protection WA’s settlement page covers it.
On the day, from the seller’s side
In Victoria the settlement date is set in the contract, usually 30 to 90 days out, and rates and other outgoings are adjusted between seller and buyer at settlement. Buyers may inspect the property at any reasonable time in the week before settlement, and once settlement is completed the buyer can collect the keys.
Settlement is when the largest payment moves. In a consumer alert issued on 7 January 2016, Victoria’s Legal Services Commissioner described scammers who had intercepted emails between clients and their solicitors and struck just before a large payment was due. At the time, the Commissioner had not yet found the same fraud among Victorian clients but judged the likelihood high, and law firms were asked to anticipate the risk of clients being tricked into sending trust money to thieves.
The checks for it, word for word, are in payment redirection scams and the official checks.