realestate.com.au reported calls for mandatory Victorian auction bidder registration as reserve price disclosure begins, and PIPA Chair Cate Bakos said sellers who publish a reserve need visibility of who is bidding.
What the article reported
David Bonaddio reported on the 26th of September 2026 that auctioneers and buyer’s advocates want Victoria to require bidders to register before an auction. New South Wales and Queensland already require registration, with identity requirements applying before a person can bid. Victoria has no statewide requirement. A person can bid at a Victorian auction without having inspected the property or given the agency a name.
Two of the practitioners quoted had seen a successful bidder leave without signing. Whitefox national auctioneer Eleanor Currie said she had called an auction where it happened, and supports legislating registration. Anderson Property Advisors director Jeff Anderson described a 2019 auction of a vacant block in Balwyn North, where an unidentified bidder won at about $1.13 million and left before signing, with no name or contact details on record. Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Luke Banitsiotis said his network already treats registration as best practice.
Reserve price disclosure from the 1st of October
The calls coincide with the start of Victoria’s reserve price rules. From the 1st of October 2026, agents must publish the seller’s reserve at least seven days before auction. A grace period runs to the 15th of October, so not every campaign will show a reserve seven days out in the first fortnight.
The legislation does not include bidder registration. A Victorian government spokesperson defended the reserve reforms as a measure against underquoting and did not say whether the government supports registration. It also pointed to a requirement for sold prices to be disclosed, and to a measure on building and pest inspection costs that is an election commitment and would proceed only if the government is returned at the November election.
The other rules starting on the same date, including sold price disclosure and the Property Price Statement, are covered in Victoria’s new property price rules and the timing of the reserve.
Nationals MP Jade Benham, who holds the opposition’s consumer affairs portfolio, said a Liberal and Nationals government would ensure transparency at auctions. The Coalition has not committed to registration. Ms Benham argued that the reserve reforms risk moving sales from public auction into private negotiation, a shift that Jellis Craig chief executive Andrew McCann also expected when PIPA reviewed Melbourne’s spring market and the new auction rules.
Cate Bakos on Victorian auction bidder registration
PIPA Chair Cate Bakos, who also practises as a buyer’s advocate, supports mandatory registration. She told realestate.com.au she had seen bidders refuse to sign and walk away, and that bidding anonymously, without registering or sharing an identity, did not make sense to her.
If we’re asking vendors to lock in a price, they need visibility to be able to do that.
Cate Bakos, Chair of PIPA, quoted on realestate.com.au, the 26th of September 2026
Ms Bakos also said any registration scheme would need strong privacy protections around identification documents. A scheme that requires identification could leave agencies holding identity documents for every registered bidder at every auction, so the rules for storing and destroying that material would need to sit in the scheme itself.
When a Victorian auction sale becomes binding
Consumer Affairs Victoria’s position, as reported, is that a property is sold once the seller and the successful bidder have signed the contract, and the winning bidder pays the deposit on signing. The fall of the hammer identifies the highest bidder. The contract binds on signature. The article also cites Gordon Legal: a seller who changes their mind after the auction is not obliged to proceed until the documents are signed.
Until signing, neither party is bound, and a Victorian agency may not know the highest bidder’s name. Registration would give the agency a name and identification to follow up. It would not show that a bidder has finance, and it would not guarantee that a sale proceeds, as the article notes.
What registration would change for a seller
Under the new rules a seller publishes the reserve a week before auction, and every buyer in the market sees it. Where bidding reaches the reserve, the property is generally sold to the highest bidder. If that bidder then declines to sign, the seller may have to re-market the property with the reserve already public, possibly by private sale. Registration would not prevent that outcome. It would give the agent a record of every bidder, including the underbidders, and a means of contacting them on the day.
Before the auction, a seller can ask the agent:
- Whether the agency registers bidders and sights identification before bidding starts, and how that information is stored.
- How the agency handles a highest bidder who declines to sign, and whether underbidders are approached.
- How the published reserve was arrived at, and which comparable sales support it.
Preparing to bid at a Victorian auction
A successful bidder in Victoria is expected to sign the contract and pay the deposit on the day. Before bidding, a buyer can:
- Have the contract of sale and the Section 32 vendor statement reviewed by a conveyancer or solicitor.
- Confirm the deposit amount with the agent and have the funds available on auction day.
- Confirm that finance approval covers the bidding limit.
- Set the bidding limit from comparable sales rather than from the published reserve, which is the seller’s figure and not a valuation.
Qualified advice before auction day
The week between the published reserve and the auction is the time to test the property against comparable evidence and the investor’s own figures. PIPA’s earlier commentary on buying at auction without competition covers the case where only one bidder attends. Investors can search for an adviser holding the Qualified Property Investment Adviser (QPIA) accreditation. Practitioners who advise property investors can apply for QPIA accreditation.
Reported by
David Bonaddio, realestate.com.au, 26 September 2026
Also published on news.com.au. Other sources quoted in the article include Whitefox, Ray White, Anderson Property Advisors, the Victorian government, the Victorian opposition and Consumer Affairs Victoria. PIPA has commented on this coverage for members and consumers. Copyright in the original article remains with its publisher.
