The new ‘regulator operator model' for the NSW land title system

Sydney Business Chamber

CEO Leadership Roundtable Lunch

Jeremy Cox

NSW Registrar General

13 February 2018

The new regulator operator model is the next step in a constantly improving land title system

1

22 February

First Crown Land recorded

(James Ruse)

1 January

Torrens introduced

Computerised

Torrens Title System

A world first

eConveyancingreform

July

Office of the

Registrar General

established

September

LPI Bill through

Parliament

February

eConveyancing

timeframes

announced

August

Standalone

mortgages and

refinancing goes

digital

July

Private concession

commenced

The NSW Government introduced the regulator operator model to drive an efficient, digital and customer focused land title system

2

NSW Treasury selected Australian Registry Investments (ARI) to operate NSW’s land title system for 35 years

3*A ‘concession’ is when a private business pays the government to operate a public asset for a specific period of time.

Funds managed by

Hastings Fund Management

First State Super

30%

70%

Paid $2.6 billion to operate LPI—and receive

its revenue—under a 35 year concession*.

ARI does not own the registry or the data

that goes with it.

These remain the property of the NSW

Government.

The Office of the Registrar General is a regulator, advisor and litigator, working to ensure the integrity of NSW’s land title system

4

The Office of the Registrar General’s regulatory focus will be on making sure the operator delivers ongoing improvements to customers

5

Regulator objectives

a Maintain integrity, security performance and availability of registers, core

services and systems

a Ensure registers are accurate and up to date

a Maintain confidence with customers and NSW public

a Promote improvements, innovation and increased efficiency using greater

expertise and investment in technology

a Minimise errors and frauds

a Protect current competition in down stream services

And we have new powers that don’t exist in other Australian states, and in most overseas jurisdictions, to manage these risks

6

Registrar General Minister

Reserve powers Step in

Administrative review Termination

Civil penalty tied to KPIs Handback

We have targeted controls to manage risks related to a private monopoly provider of a core service

7

Some other controls in response to issues raised by

stakeholders

Prices CPI cap

Privacy Commonwealth and state legislation

Fraud and errors TAF remains. No change in risk profile

Security ISO standards (270002), audits and testing

Our controls give the State the right tools to detect and assess issues and risks before they materialise

8

Reporting Reviews Risk management Security testing Quality

assurance

Incident

management

Annual review of

performance

Report to RG on risk

controls

Vulnerability

scans &

penetration tests

Standard data

feeds

Business

continuity and

business plans

Major review (3 to

5 years)

Access to staff,

locations,

procedures

Security

standards ISO

Tools to measure

performance

Technology

roadmap

Ad hoc reviews &

spot checks

Risk register and

report to RG

Monitoring,

scanning &

assurance tools

in systems

Auditable record of

performance

A primary driver for the Government seeking a private operator was to bring new investment, innovation and technology

9

“People expect to manage their lives around technology. They want greater access, fewer errors, more transparency. The Government wants this reform to make NSW’s land title system meet a rapidly changing world. To make things better for business and better for the consumer”.

10

The operator has started the process of upgrading the technology that supports the registry

11

A more secure, efficient,

customer focused

system

1. Upgrade of

the registry’s

core systems

2. Investment

in new,

innovative

‘non-core’

services

a Fewer errors and fraud

a Registry available 24/7

a Records more easily accessible to customers online

a New innovative services

With eConveyancing, we are midpoint along the timeline for moving mainstream documents digital

12

The benefits for solicitors and conveyancers are substantial

13

Independent analysis on benefits for lawyers & conveyancers

• Up to 75 per cent time savings per transaction

• Eliminates almost all risks associated with human error

• No longer need to attend settlement

• Don’t have to spend time on hold when contacting other parties

• Interests are registered instantaneously on settlement

• Settlement day is more certain

• Funds from the proceeds of a sale are available much sooner.

“The other day I settled a transaction from Hawaii”

14

Industry is starting to embrace eConveyancing

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Mortgage Transfer Caveat Discharge of Mortgage Withdrawal of Caveat Total Total

Total electronic lodgments

The Government is considering how to make the full conveyancing process digital

15

Pre-Settlement

• Discharge authority

• Requisitions on title

• Transfer documents

• Settlement adjustment

• Mortgage discharge

• Booking settlement

Settlement

•Settlement funds

•Attending settlement

Post-Settlement

•Sending orders to the real estate agent

•Title transfer registered

eConveyancing

Activities up to exchanging contracts is still paper heavy. Looking at ways to remove barriers in ‘pre-exchange’ stage: contract preparation, negotiations, and exchange.

Pre-Exchange

Diagram is based on a standard conveyance acting for a vendor.

Digitalising old land title registry documents dating back several centuries will make it easier to search the registry

16

Apr-18

Jun-18

Aug-18

Dec-18

Dec-18

Mar-19

Dec-18

Dec-18

April-18

209

349

210

195

315

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Deposited deed receipt books

Primary application search sketches

Primary application misc searches

Conditional purchase

Powers of attorney & trusts registers

Deed receipts, primary application sketches and searches, conditional purchase and powers of attorney

1000

1483

166,508

5527

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000

Boundary determinations

Primary application search books

Early deposited plans

General register of deeds

Primary applications, deposited plans and general register of deeds

Target

We will support the take-up of digital survey plans to make registering plans in NSW a faster, more accurate process

17

“Around 70% of plans lodged with LRS have an error”

The Government is considering options to further strengthen protections for off-the-plan purchasers.

18

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

Big increase in off-the-plan sales relative to total residential sales

%

In summary, we are supporting the Government’s objective to digitise land transactions in NSW

19

ARI commences

2017-2019Implement

eConveyancing

reforms

LPI’s

recordsAll digitised

New

innovativeValue added

products

85% of property

transactions

electronically

Update ITSSystems for NSW

Work with

surveying industry

to move to digital

format

Thank you and questions

20

a Visit the ORG website

www.registrargeneral.nsw.gov.au

a Email ORG

ORG.Admin@finance.nsw.gov.au

a Subscribe to ORG emails