Accenture building e-conveyancing platform

Peter Dinham
Monday, 15 August 2011 20:29

IT Industry - Deals

The state governments owned company charged with developing a national electronic system for property exchange, NECDL, has signed a master agreement with Accenture to design and build the e-conveyancing platform that will underpin the national system.

However, as iTWire's enterprise editor, Beverley Head reported today, legal and legislative hurdles will delay introduction and usage of the system by National E-Conveyancing Development Ltd.

As reported, legislative changes will be needed in each of the nation's States and Territories before the Pexa (Property Exchange Australia) system being developed by Accenture can be used. NECDL is majority owned by Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia state governments.

The delivery of a national e-conveyancing platform forms part of the Council of Australian Governments' (COAG) micro-economic reform agenda and is one of the deregulation priorities under the National Partnership Agreement to deliver a seamless national economy.

The chairman of NECDL, Alan Cameron AO said the agreement with Accenture constituted a major step forward for e-conveyancing in Australia.

Cameron said that, despite significant effort over the past 10 years, there has previously been no agreement on a single national system. Instead, parallel work had been going on in a number of states, including by Electronic Conveyancing Victoria, the National Electronic Conveyancing Office and others, with these streams of development now converged under NECDL.

'NECDL has purposely sought to align the key stakeholders behind e-conveyancing and to bring a strong commercial focus to delivering a national system. We now have in place all the necessary elements to begin developing the system.

'All parties will now see some concrete development steps in delivering an e-conveyancing system for Australia. The announcements today signal a significant departure from where e-conveyancing has been in the past.'

Cameron said NECDL was looking forward to continuing dialogue with the key stakeholders in the project, including property lawyers, conveyancers, banks, other financial institutions, information brokers, and all State and Territory revenue offices and land titles offices.

'These parties will be central to the successful implementation of a national system,' he added.

According to Cameron, the agreement with Accenture follows the recent completion of two other important negotiations by NECDL - the acquisition of existing intellectual property (IP) for e-conveyancing held by various State governments - including the e-conveyancing system operating in Victoria and all other IP held by government and related entities in NSW, Queensland and WA.

And, subject to ACCC clearance, securing seed funding from the ANZ, Commonwealth and Westpac banks and the National Australia Investment Capital Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Australia Bank Limited.

Cameron said that if ACCC clearance is obtained, the four major banks will become minority shareholders of NECDL. The states of NSW, QLD, Vic and WA will remain the majority shareholders.