In the lead-up to one of the conveyancing industry’s busiest seasons, Heather Crichton, General Manager, Member Support Services at PEXA, discusses how PEXA’s flexibility streamlines property lodgements and settlements during public holidays and while abroad.
365 days
PEXA members can access PEXA 365 days a year – 24/7[1]. As a predominantly paper-based industry for over 150 years, the digital platform provides legal practitioners with inconceivable flexibility that was never before possible. If, for example, an urgent caveat needs to be lodged after hours in Victoria, this can be done. Or, if you’re required or prefer to work on public holidays, you can, depending on your transacting state. Caveats, as well as other standalone transactions, are all within reach, allowing practitioners to be as flexible as they need to be for their clients.
A complex network
PEXA’s multi-faceted network involves the fusion of individual industries – banking, legal and cross-country governments, amongst others. Due to these complexities, operating hours of service partners (such as land registries) and their locations alter the availability of lodgement and financial settlements, in particular during public holidays.
Lodgement and settlement
A complete record of operating hours can be found in PEXA’s Service Charter. They can be impacted by public holidays, land registry, revenue office and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s own operating hours and availability.
With the Christmas period approaching, the following table outlines exactly how each state is impacted.
| Date | Not available | Available |
| 25 December 2018 |
|
|
| 26 December 2018 |
|
|
| 1 January 2019 |
|
|
| 27 – 31 December 2018 |
|
|
What happens when NSW has a public holiday?
Every year, this is one of the most commonly asked questions by PEXA members. This is due to the RBA – which facilitates the financial component of a PEXA settlement – being located in NSW, and thus, it follows the state’s gazetted public holiday calendar. For example, next year, NSW has a bank holiday on 5 August 2019, and as a result, settlement cut-off time in some other jurisdictions reduces (see PEXA service charter).
This causes a flow on effect for the rest of the active e-Conveyancing states e.g. settlement cut-off time in Western Australia shortens to 2.00pm AWST.
It’s important to note that during all non-National public holidays, practitioners may still be able to lodge and settle online in their own states. In fact, despite Victoria’s Melbourne Cup holiday on 6 November this year, many Victorian settlements still took place as normal.
PEXA on Everest and 8,500m above sea level
The 24/7 flexibility that PEXA can bring to industry is undisputable. Not only have we seen practitioners change their working hours from nine to five to choosing their own hours, but PEXA members have also pushed the boundaries on location.
Mark Blair, Financial Product and Services National Client Relationship Manager – Dentons, took PEXA to Everest and said, “I felt this was the perfect opportunity to illustrate how PEXA has made e-Conveyancing simple and accessible anywhere in the world. So, while my climbing comrades celebrated at the peak, I created a Workspace with only a mobile data connection – why not!”.
Similarly, Craig Green, Gadens Brisbane Banking and Finance Partner, said “Between Singapore, Dubai, Milan, Florence, Cortona and Portofino I authorised 21 transactions from aeroplanes, villas and hotel lobbies. These were time sensitive matters that the team from home were working through. Everything went smoothly. My electronic approval travelled around the globe. When I was asleep the home-based team were at work settling the next day. Our transactions followed the sun.”
Visit PEXA’s online Community forum for more information on public holidays and what they mean for online lodgements and settlements or read PEXA’s Service Charter.
Heather joined Property Exchange Australia Ltd (PEXA) in 2015. Her previous experience lies predominantly in the legal industry as a private practice lawyer and in Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Currently, Heather represents PEXA as General Manager, Member Support Services. In this role, Heather is responsible for PEXA’s Support Centre, training team and Voice of Customer program. She supports and advocates for lawyers and conveyancers as they transition to e-Conveyancing while overseeing the deliverance of member-first initiatives. Contact Heather at practitioner@pexa.com.au or connect via LinkedIn.
You can also connect with PEXA via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
[1] Excluding brief periods for system maintenance and enhancements