# In-room auctions in Queensland: how a multi-property event runs

When dozens of Queensland properties are auctioned in one room, the law still applies lot by lot. How the order of sale, registration, contracts and deposits work on the night.

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Most Queensland auctions happen on a front lawn, with the house behind the auctioneer and the neighbours watching from the footpath. Some happen somewhere else entirely: a function room, an auditorium or an agency's own auction room, where one property after another is called from a stage and a home is sold in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. The trade calls it selling in rooms.

For a seller or a bidder who has only ever seen the lawn version, the room raises practical questions. Which property is called when? Does one registration cover several properties? Where does a buyer sign, and what happens to a property that fails to sell while the next one is already under way? This guide follows one evening from the catalogue to the last signature. The ordinary rules of a Queensland auction have their own guides in these pages, so they are recalled here in a sentence each; the subject is what changes when many properties share a room.

## What selling in rooms means

An in-room auction takes the sale away from the property. Bidders gather at a venue chosen by the agency or the network, the properties are presented on screens or in a printed catalogue, and each one is offered in turn. Every property is still its own auction, with its own seller, its own reserve, its own contract and its own result. The event is the container, not the sale.

Scale varies widely. An agency may put three or four listings through its office on a weeknight, and a network may combine the listings of several offices into one long session with a printed order of sale. Whatever the size, the format compresses the time given to each property. Everything that distinguishes a room from a lawn follows from this compression: the paperwork moves to before the event, the explanations move into the catalogue, and the negotiation after an unsold lot moves out of the spotlight.

## Why agencies gather lots in one room

No Queensland rule says where a property auction must be held. The Real Estate Institute of Queensland's Best Practice Guidelines, in the version marked V05.24, ask only that the auction be scheduled at a suitable time on the stated date and held at a location that is accessible, safe and free from hazards. The same guidelines note that the appointment of the auctioneer, made on the Office of Fair Trading's Form 6, must state the auction day.

Within that freedom, the reasons for choosing a room are mostly practical. A venue is indifferent to rain, to a steep driveway and to a street with no parking. It can also suit a tenanted home: the REIQ guidelines point out that where a property is tenanted, the tenant's signed consent is needed before an on-site auction can be held there, citing the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008. A sale in rooms does not bring the crowd to the tenant's door.

There is a commercial reason as well. A room puts every buyer who came for one property in front of the others. Whether a shared room helps a given seller is a judgement for that seller and their agent, and depends on the property: a home whose appeal is its garden or its view loses the chance to show it on the day.

## The catalogue and the order of sale

Two documents organise an in-room event: the catalogue, which lists every property offered, and the order of sale, which fixes the sequence in which they are called.

The order matters to both sides. A seller placed early meets a room that is still filling; a seller placed late meets one that may be thinning. A bidder who wants the fourteenth property needs to know roughly when it will come up, and when lots follow one another quickly, a late arrival of half an hour can mean the property has been and gone. How the sequence is set, and whether a seller can ask for a position, is a matter of the organiser's practice, not of law. It is a fair question for a seller to raise when the auction date is booked.

The order can also change before the night, because a property sold beforehand drops out of it. A printed catalogue collected a week earlier can therefore be out of date, and the version shown in the room on the night is the one that counts.

One rule shapes what a Queensland catalogue may contain. The Office of Fair Trading's guidance for the property industry, last updated on 1 July 2024, says an auctioneer or agent must not give a price guide or a likely selling price for a property going to auction to anyone except a person acting for the seller. A catalogue of thirty properties is thirty descriptions without thirty price ranges. The same guidance allows a comparative market analysis to be handed to potential bidders, but only where the seller has agreed in writing.

## The same law, lot by lot

Nothing in the Office of Fair Trading's guidance distinguishes an auction in rooms from one on site. The Property Occupations Act 2014 and the Property Occupations Regulation 2014 govern the auctioneer wherever the rostrum stands. What a venue changes is the way each duty is carried out when it has to be met again every few minutes.

<figure class="fig"><figcaption><b>One set of rules, two settings</b><span>Duties as described by the Office of Fair Trading</span></figcaption>
<div class="scroll"><table class="tbl">
<thead><tr><th>Duty</th><th>What the rule asks</th><th>What the room changes</th></tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Auctioneer's name</td><td>Displayed in clear, legible text in a conspicuous position, for example by the entrance.</td><td>The exemptions for very strong wind or a large, open outdoor area rarely arise indoors.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Registered bidders</td><td>Identity checked, a marker issued, and an announcement that only registered bidders may bid.</td><td>One desk serves many properties, so bidders may register for several lots.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Conditions of sale</td><td>Disclosed, including deposit and inspection details; the unsigned contract may be used.</td><td>Each property has its own contract, so the conditions differ from lot to lot.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Reserve</td><td>Set by the seller in writing; the amount is disclosed only to a person acting for the seller.</td><td>A separate reserve for every lot, held by the same rostrum.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Vendor bids</td><td>Accepted only up to the reserve, and disclosed as vendor bids each time.</td><td>The announcement is repeated lot after lot, for a different seller each time.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<p class="src">Office of Fair Trading, Auctioning a property (last updated 1 July 2024).</p></figure>

The Regulation itself is short, and three of its sections carry most of the rostrum's duties. Section 9 requires the auctioneer's name to be displayed where it is clearly visible for the whole of the auction, and to be announced at the start instead where a display would be ineffective, for example in a place exposed to the elements. Section 23 deals with the registration of bidders and section 24 with bids by the seller: a seller's bid must be disclosed to the other bidders, and the auctioneer must not accept one that is higher than the reserve price. In the Act, section 214 is headed "Auctioneer not to disclose reserve or other price". Where more than one auctioneer calls during a session, the Office of Fair Trading's wording points to each of them: the instruction is to display "your name" at the auction site.

## Registering once, bidding on several lots

Only registered bidders may bid at a Queensland property auction. The Office of Fair Trading tells auctioneers to register bidders before the auction starts, to check suitable identification such as a driver's licence before doing so, and to hand each bidder an identifying marker such as a numbered card.

In a room, the registration desk is where the evening really begins. The REIQ guidelines say a bidder should provide a signed bidder registration form, a signed copy of the conditions of sale, and their name, address, contact details and enough identification. They also say that a person who registers after the auction has started cannot have a bid accepted until registration is complete. With lots following one another quickly, a queue at the desk is an ordinary way to miss a property, so the opening time of registration is worth asking about.

The Regulation has a provision that fits the room closely. Section 23 requires the auctioneer to keep a register of bidders for each auction conducted at the same place on the same day, and to make sure, before accepting a bid, that the bidder is registered. To register, a person gives a name and address and produces satisfactory evidence of identity, for which the section's example is a photo driver licence; the auctioneer then allots an identifier that is unique to that bidder. The same section adds that where a bidder has already been registered by the auctioneer for a sale of property, that registration may be applied to one or more later auctions conducted by that auctioneer.

The word is may, not must, so a bidder interested in more than one property should ask how the organiser handles it. One paddle may be carried from lot to lot, or the desk may ask for each property to be named. The provision speaks of a bidder registered by the auctioneer, so a session shared between several auctioneers is another reason to ask. A decision made in the room to bid on an extra property is best checked with the desk before that lot is called.

Anyone bidding for someone else carries one more document. The REIQ guidelines ask for an executed letter of authority that names the buyer and the registered bidder and states whether the bidder is a buyer's agent.

## Conditions of sale for each lot

On a lawn there is one contract, usually on a table by the front door. In a room there are as many contracts as there are properties, and they are not identical. Deposit amounts, settlement dates, special conditions, tenancies and included chattels all belong to the individual property.

The duty itself is stated simply. The Office of Fair Trading says the auctioneer must disclose the conditions of sale, such as the required deposit and inspection details, and may use the unsigned contract of sale to do it. The REIQ guidelines add that the conditions must be made available to prospective buyers for inspection before the auction. At a multi-property event that means a contract for every lot has to be available to read, and a bidder can ask the agency for it in the days before.

The REIQ guidelines also list what an auctioneer should announce before starting a property: its address and legal description, that only registered bidders' bids will be accepted, that the sale is unconditional and carries no cooling-off period, any special conditions, the deposit and when it is payable, and whether GST applies. In a long order of sale those announcements are necessarily brisk. A bidder who waits for the rostrum to explain a special condition has left it too late; the time to read the contract for lot fourteen, and to have a solicitor or conveyancer read it, is before the doors open.

> In a room, the announcement confirms what the bidder should already have read. It cannot replace the reading.

## Phone and online bidders in the room

A room concentrates the buyers who are present, but in-room events also draw buyers who are not: interstate purchasers, people at work, and bidders following more than one lot. They reach the rostrum by telephone, through a person in the room who relays the bids, or through an online bidding platform.

The registration rules do not bend for them. Under the REIQ guidelines, a person who will bid by telephone must say so in the letter of authority when they register, so the person holding the phone is the registered bidder acting on written authority. For auctions run through a digital platform, the guidelines say the auction must still be conducted by a licensed auctioneer, the bids must be transparent to the other bidders, and remote bidders must be registered in the same way as everyone else, with identification and signed conditions of sale.

The room adds a difficulty of timing. A phone bidder on the fourteenth lot has to be on the line when it is called, and the order of sale may run ahead of or behind any estimate. Who calls whom, and when, is settled with the agency beforehand. The REIQ guidelines add one transparency point that matters when agency staff are relaying bids: where an employee or agent of the auctioneer bids for a prospective buyer while the auctioneer acts for the seller, the auctioneer must announce it and identify who will be bidding.

## When a lot is passed in mid-event

On a lawn, a property that fails to reach its reserve is followed by a pause. The auctioneer steps inside with the highest bidder, the crowd drifts, and the negotiation has the afternoon to itself. A room cannot pause: the next seller's auction is due.

<figure class="fig"><figcaption><b>One lot's path through the evening</b></figcaption>
<ol class="steps five">
<li><b>Called</b><span>The lot comes up in the order of sale and its conditions are announced.</span></li>
<li><b>Bidding</b><span>Registered bidders in the room, on the phone and online compete. Vendor bids are announced.</span></li>
<li><b>Sold or passed in</b><span>The hammer falls on a sale, or bidding stops short of the reserve.</span></li>
<li><b>Side room</b><span>Buyer or leading bidder leaves the floor with the agent while the next lot is called.</span></li>
<li><b>Paperwork</b><span>Contract signed and deposit paid, or negotiation continues with the seller.</span></li>
</ol></figure>

The seller's agent takes the highest bidder to a table or a separate room, the seller is consulted in person or by phone, and offers go back and forth while the event carries on next door. The Office of Fair Trading's page for sellers states the position plainly: if bidding does not reach the reserve, the seller is not obliged to sell, and may choose to negotiate with a bidder.

The Regulation makes room for this step. Section 25 forbids an auctioneer to disclose the identity of a registered bidder to anyone but an inspector or a court, with one exception: the seller or the seller's agent may be told who the bidder is where that is necessary to negotiate after the property is passed in, or otherwise to bring about the sale.

Two things are worth keeping in mind in the side room. First, a contract signed there is a negotiated contract, so terms such as a finance condition can be discussed in a way they could not during the bidding. Second, a negotiated contract is not automatically a contract with a cooling-off period, as the next section explains.

## Contracts and deposits on the night

The fall of the hammer has the same effect in a room as anywhere else. The Office of Fair Trading says a successful bidder must sign the contract immediately, and the REIQ guidelines say the auctioneer should have a draft contract on hand for each property, with the particulars completed so that it binds once both parties sign. The guidelines add that an auctioneer may sign for a seller or a buyer only with written authority, a point that matters in a room because the seller may not be present for a lot called late at night.

The deposit follows at once. The amount is whatever the conditions for that lot say, and the Office of Fair Trading advises bidders to ask the agent beforehand what percentage is required and which payment methods are accepted, noting that a personal cheque, a bank cheque or a deposit bond is usually acceptable. A bidder active on several lots should check each one, because the deposit and the accepted method of payment can differ between sellers in the same catalogue.

<div class="callout"><span class="mono">No cooling-off</span><h4>The two-business-day rule follows bidders out of the room</h4>
<p>A sale by auction carries no cooling-off period. Nor does a contract made after an unsuccessful auction where the buyer was a registered bidder and the sale is made before 5pm on the second business day, according to the Office of Fair Trading. A deal struck in a side room that evening falls inside that window.</p>
</div>

The Office of Fair Trading's list of sales without a cooling-off period, on a page last updated on 12 May 2022, holds one more entry that a multi-property event makes relevant: a buyer who purchases at least three lots at the same time. Whether a particular set of purchases meets that description is a question for the buyer's solicitor. For everyone else, the five business days that protect a private treaty buyer are not available at the hammer, nor to a registered bidder who signs later that night.

## Identity checks on the winning bidder

Showing a driver's licence at the registration desk is a requirement of Queensland's auction rules. Since 1 July 2026 a second, federal check sits beside it. AUSTRAC's statement of its regulatory priorities for 2026-27, last updated on 19 August 2026, says anti-money laundering obligations have applied from that date to services typically provided by real estate agents, among others. AUSTRAC's guidance on real estate services, last updated on 10 July 2026, says both the buyer and the seller are the customer, and notes that at an auction the buyer may only be known after the fall of the hammer. Its guidance on identifying individuals, last updated on 31 March 2026, describes collecting a person's full name, date of birth and residential address and verifying name and date of birth against a document such as a passport or driver's licence, and it allows the check on the party the agency does not act for to be delayed where conditions are met. The federal check therefore concerns the person who buys, not everyone who registered to bid. At an in-room event it is one more piece of paperwork in the side room: the winning bidder can expect questions and document checks that go beyond the bidder registration form, and a person who has bought for a company or a trust can expect more of them.

## Records, privacy and conduct in the room

An in-room event produces a large amount of personal information in a few hours: a register entry and an identity check for every bidder, and several of each for a bidder registered on several lots. The Office of Fair Trading's guidance limits what the auctioneer may do with it. A bidder must not be identified during the auction; afterwards, a bidder may be identified only to help finalise the sale, and otherwise only to an inspector or a court. Paddle numbers, not names, are what the room hears. The register itself outlasts the evening: section 23 of the Regulation requires it to be kept for at least five years after the last entry is made in it.

The federal regime adds its own discipline. Guidance published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 27 February 2026 says businesses doing identity checks under the anti-money laundering law should collect only what is reasonably necessary and should not keep copies of full identity documents for record keeping under that law.

Conduct rules are the same as on site, and a crowded room makes them more visible. Bids placed for the seller after the reserve has been reached are illegal, the Office of Fair Trading says, whoever places them. The REIQ guidelines say an auctioneer must not arrange or knowingly allow dummy bidding, may refuse a bid from any bidder provided the refusal is announced to the others, and may resubmit a property where a bid or a result is disputed. In a fast session a bidder unsure whether a bid was taken should speak up at once: the guidelines ask the auctioneer to clarify immediately where there is doubt.

Access is the last practical matter. The REIQ guidelines ask for a location that is accessible and safe. A bidder who needs step-free entry, a seat with a clear line of sight to the rostrum, an interpreter, or simply a quiet place to read a contract can raise it with the agency before the night. The agency has the same interest as the bidder in making sure every registered buyer can be seen and heard when their lot is called.