Episode 18: Reserves Seven Days Out, a Licence Lost and Housefishing in New Farm | 11 September 2026

This week on Before the Weekend, Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade work through a week where the rules got stricter, and the people living under them got very little say in how.First, Victoria. Auctioneer and coach Andy Reid called Peter after last week's episode to say we had it slightly wrong, so he came on to fix it. After a briefing from Consumer Affairs Victoria's Nicole Rich, the draft clause that appeared to stop buyers making an offer until they had held the contract for 14 days has been put down to a typo - the contract now simply has to be available for 14 days before the auction. From 1 October the statement of information becomes the property price statement, "a statement of information on steroids" with detail on every comparable sale. The reserve has to be published seven calendar days out, and while it can come down during the auction it cannot go up. An offer above the reserve that is rejected on price resets the seven days; one rejected in writing on process does not. Campaigns launched before 1 October get two weeks' grace, so the auctions of 3 and 10 October run under the old rules. Andy's read is that auctions accelerate at the bottom of the market and drift away at the top, and his line on the new rules: "it's actually one of the best conditioning tools we've ever been given." Peter's worry is the week the market moves after the reserve is set, and he wants a month of results before he believes it.Then AUSTRAC. Section 167 notices started going out in late August to agencies that have not enrolled, a reminder that the deadline has passed.Then the story that divided the industry. McGrath Bulimba principal Tony O'Doherty has had his Queensland real estate licence cancelled over an assault in Ireland in 2013, when he was 23. He pleaded guilty by video link in November 2025 and received a two-year sentence, fully suspended. He is appealing, and McGrath is standing behind him. Kasey walks through what changes inside an office when the licensee goes, down to the form 6s and the name on the door, and Peter asks the harder question: at what point does society let someone move on, and what precedent does it set if it does?Then housefishing in New Farm. A rental listing at 22 Mark Street appears to have been built with AI images that bear little resemblance to the house. Peter, once called the catfisher of real estate from his years at BoxBrownie, draws the ethical line - a grey sky or a Queensland lawn can be fixed, power lines cannot - and says this one is beyond any disclaimer: walls stretched, power points gone, every image changed. Queensland's Property Occupations Act allows up to 540 penalty units for false or misleading representations, and Kasey asks what rights a tenant has if they signed without ever inspecting.Then Revenue NSW and the contractor who is really an employee. Most internal conjunction arrangements fail every payroll tax exemption, and section 47 can set aside the ones that pass.Also this week: Kasey reports back from the REIQ Property Insider Lunch, where Treasurer David Janetzki said loan applications and approvals are down and Queensland is not paying for Jim Chalmers' budget, and the AFR's John Kehoe put the tax changes at 60 basis points on an investor loan with transactions down about 15 per cent; the WA rent cap debate returns; and Kasey heads to PM/ONE in Sydney while Peter flies from PropTech Connect in London to the REACH gathering in Colorado.Before the Weekend is a weekly podcast for Australian property professionals, hosted by Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade. New episodes every Friday.