Treasurer and Lands Minister Ben Wyatt today announced the appointment of Land Services WA as the Service Provider for the Landgate Partial Commercialisation. Land Services WA is a consortium comprising Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, and Australian industry superannuation funds Sunsuper and HESTA.
Once operational, Land Services WA will deliver, improve and maintain Landgate's automated titling services. These services include the processing of property transactions and searches of the title register.
The appointment has realised $1.41 billion in upfront proceeds, as well as ongoing revenue for the State.
The upfront proceeds will allow the Government to meet its ongoing funding requirements for the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, and the costs of the lifting of the statute of limitations for historical sexual abuse.
Importantly, the existing security, privacy and integrity of the land titles register will be maintained, and the statutory indefeasibility of title will be preserved. Landgate will continue to operate as a statutory authority and remain responsible for manual titling transaction processing, property valuations and location information.
The transaction has a number of other important features:
- Growth in service fees to Land Services WA will be capped at CPI;
- There will be no change to the way the public deals with Landgate, which will continue to provide all aspects of customer service; and
- All staff will be retained by Landgate and there will be no forced redundancies as a result of the commercialisation.
The total costs of undertaking the process to appoint Land Services WA, including scoping study work, are estimated at approximately $17 million.
Land Services WA will commence delivery of the commercialised services over the coming months.
As stated by Treasurer and Lands Minister Ben Wyatt:
"The Landgate Partial Commercialisation has achieved an outstanding outcome for the State, realising $1.41 billion in upfront proceeds, while protecting the ownership, integrity and security of the Land Titles Register.
"This milestone has been made possible through Landgate's commitment to innovation and commercial outcomes, which today realised immense value for the State.
"The successful transaction highlights the McGowan Government's commitment to the responsible management of the State's finances and to a prudent, yet decisive, approach which puts the taxpayers of WA first.
"I'm delighted that the proceeds will go to an important cause, allowing the Government to meet its ongoing funding requirements for the National Redress Scheme and to victims of historical sexual abuse.
"It is also important to acknowledge the Landgate board and staff for their hard work in overseeing and providing input to this transaction. The return to the State today would not be possible without Landgate's ongoing commitment to excellence in innovation."
