Chapter 1Introduction
1.1On 12 February 2025, the Senate referred an inquiry into micro-competition opportunities (the inquiry) to the Senate Economics References Committee (the committee). The inquiry’s terms of reference were for the committee to inquiry and report into micro-competition opportunities in the Australian economy into relation to e-conveyancing.
1.2On 28 March 2025, the 2025 Australian federal election was called, proroguing the 47th Parliament and dissolving the House of Representatives. Due to this, the inquiry lapsed.
1.3On 26 August 2025, the Senate re-referred the inquiry into the committee with the same terms of reference.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.4The committee published details of the inquiry on its website and called for written submissions by 7 March 2025. The committee also wrote to relevant stakeholders to invite them to make a submission.
1.5All evidence received for the inquiry as part of the 47th Parliament was made available to the committee
1.6The committee received 19 submissions in the 47th Parliament and 8 submissions in the 48th Parliament, as well as additional information and answers to questions on notice, as listed in Appendix 1.
1.7After the commencement of the 48th Parliament, the committee held one public hearing in Melbourne on 9 September 2025. Details of the witnesses who appeared at the public hearing are listed in Appendix 2.
Acknowledgments
1.8The committee thanks the many inquiry participants who provided evidence, both in submissions and at the public hearing, on the range of issues relevant to mirco-competition opportunities in e-conveyancing in Australia.
Structure of the report
1.9The committee’s report is structured as follows:
Chapter 1 – outlines the scope and conduct of the inquiry;
Chater 2 – sets out the current regulatory framework for e-conveyancing in Australia, as well as looking at the development of the e-conveyancing market;
Chapter 3 – considers competition within the e-conveyancing market, concerns related to regulation of the market and issues regarding vertical integration in e-conveyancing in Australia;
Chapter 4 – addresses interoperability within the e-conveyancing market;
Chapter 5 – provides the committee’s views and recommendations.
Notes on references
1.10In this report, references to Committee Hansard are to proof transcripts. Page numbers may vary between proof and official transcripts.
1.11Unless noted, submissions referenced through the report were received in the 48th Parliament. Submissions received in the 47th Parliament are referenced as such.