Who may run the auction
Each state sets who may hold the hammer. NSW requires a licensed real estate agent or stock and station agent accredited as an auctioneer. South Australia and the Northern Territory require a registered auctioneer, Western Australia a licensed one, and Queensland a valid licence or registration. The ACT makes it an offence to carry on business as a land auctioneer without a licence. In Tasmania it must be a registered real estate agent, or someone employed or contracted by one, as part of that agent’s business.
Victoria is the exception the official pages name: an owner or part-owner can auction their own property.
Your reserve and your bids, state by state
Victoria’s page describes a vendor bid as one made on the seller’s behalf when the seller is not satisfied with the last bid. The table sets out who may make one, and how many.
| State | Your reserve | Bids made for you | Bidders and displays |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Given to your agent in writing before bidding begins. | One bid, made by the auctioneer and announced as a vendor bid. It can be used only if the right to bid is notified in the conditions of sale, displayed before the auction. | Bidders give the selling agent a name, address and proof of identity. The agent may not show the bidders record to anyone, the owner included. Conditions are displayed before the auction. |
| Victoria | For auctions on and from 16 October 2026, your agent asks for it ahead of time and publishes it at least 7 days before; the auction cannot go ahead without the full 7 days. | Victorian law lets a seller choose to have the auctioneer bid for them, and that choice appears as the first auction rule. It is illegal for you to bid from the crowd, or ask someone else to, to push the price up. A co-owner who genuinely wants to buy may bid from the crowd, in person or through a representative, but not through the auctioneer. How many vendor bids is not covered here. | The auction rules and an information sheet are displayed for at least 30 minutes beforehand, and the auctioneer makes set announcements before bidding. Bidder registration is not covered here. |
| Queensland | Optional, but put in writing if you set one; without one you must accept the highest bid. Your agent must warn you if you choose not to set one. | You may bid on your own property, but only up to the reserve. The auctioneer must announce a vendor bid. Vendor bids after the reserve is reached are false bids, and illegal. | The auctioneer accepts bids only from registered bidders, and may not disclose a bidder’s identity except to an inspector or a court, or to you or your agent where that is needed to negotiate with the bidder after a pass-in or otherwise to help the sale. Your conditions of sale are disclosed to bidders. |
| South Australia | Set in writing before the auction and not shared with bidders. You may change it, but never above 110% of the acceptable selling price in the sales agency agreement. | Up to 3 vendor bids, made by the auctioneer, below the reserve and clearly announced. Bidding yourself, or through someone, is illegal. | Buyers register with their details and proof of identity. The buyer’s information notice (form R3) is available 3 business days before and at the site for 30 minutes before. |
| Western Australia | Kept from bidders. | You or your agent may bid up to the reserve, with the number of bids you intend to make set out in the conditions of sale. The Auction Sales Act lets the conditions of sale give the seller that right to bid. | Not covered here. |
| Tasmania | Not covered here. | The owner must not bid, or have anyone bid for them, at a public auction of land, except that the auctioneer personally may bid for the owner if the auction conditions permit it, the auctioneer says so before bidding starts, and announces the bid as made for the owner. | The agent makes the auction’s conditions available for public inspection at least 7 days before it starts, publicises that they are available, and displays them at the venue immediately before. |
| ACT | Not covered here. | One bid, made by the auctioneer, if the auction conditions permit it, the auctioneer says so before bidding begins, and announces the bid as made for the seller when making it. Any other bid by or for the seller is an offence, and the auctioneer may not accept one known to be for the seller. | Your agent makes a bidders record before the auction. The conditions are displayed at the venue for at least 30 minutes beforehand. |
| Northern Territory | Not given to buyers; known only to the agent, the auctioneer and the owner. | The NT page says you can bid or have someone bid for you, and the auctioneer must announce it. Under the NT Act, that right exists only if the conditions of sale say so. | The auction rules and any added conditions should be available for buyers to read. |
NSW’s page says plainly that dummy bids are illegal, and its bidder’s guide says: “Dummy bidding is where a false bid is made by a non-genuine bidder to artificially drive up the sale price of a property.”
What you sign before the day
In Western Australia, an agent who runs your auction gives you a written contract, the Authority to Auction, setting out their services and fees, and it binds you both. It lets the agent or auctioneer sign the sale contract for you, as long as the highest bid reaches your reserve.
In South Australia, a sales agency agreement for selling a home at auction may not be varied to raise the selling price it names.
In NSW, if bidding goes beyond the reserve, the property is sold at the fall of the hammer. In Queensland you must accept the highest bid and sign the contract with the buyer straight away. In NSW the successful bidder signs and pays you a deposit on the spot, usually 10% of the price unless a smaller sum or a deposit bond was agreed before the auction.
If bidding stops below your reserve, the home is passed in: see when an auction passes in and auctions and cooling-off.