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Central Government, Policy

Australian e-project abandoned

By Kelly Ng | 15 June 2009

The Australian federal government has ignored a funding request and has withdrawn its involvement in a national online conveyancing system.

The National Electronic Conveyancing System (NECS) requires A$20 million (US$15.7 million) to establish itself and recruit executives. According to Les Taylor, Chair of the Steering Committee, industry participants – lawyers, bankers and conveyancers – will abandon the project if sufficient funding does not materialise.

The federal government allocated A$550 million (US$433 million) to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to reform and harmonise regulation across states. Some of this money was meant to fund the e-conveyancing project. However, of the A$100 million that will be paid out this year, none has been earmarked for this project, said Taylor.

NECS, which started in 2005 and was supposed to be completed by next March, will allow practitioners to electronically transfer property ownership and make payment online. It was expected that the project would reduce the costs of buying and selling property by A$250 million annually because consumers will pay less legal and conveyancing fees.

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