John Cunningham, the newly-elected NSW President of the Real Estate Institute.

John Cunningham, of Cunninghams in Balgowlah, was elected president of the industry body for two years this week.

In his new role, the president is aiming to lift the bar on agent training, saying unless standards improve agents may not survive.

John Cunningham, the newly-elected NSW President of the Real Estate Institute, says unless standards improve the industry may not survive.Source:Supplied

“There are stories of agents being trained in a matter of hours online,” Mr Cunningham said.

“The entry level training is so low it has been abused.”

“You have to do more training to become a barista than you do a real estate agent.”

New REI president John Cunningham says some real estate agents have less training than a barista. Picture: Matt TurnerSource:News Corp Australia

Mr Cunningham is leading the call to extend entry-level agent training from four to 11 subjects before people can begin work in the profession.

He also make all agents complete a two-year course certificate IV course with 13 more subjects studied.

“To achieve a full real estate licence, and be entitled to become a licensee-in-charge and run a trust account, an agent will then be required to complete a further four business units to receive their diploma in real estate,” Mr Cunningham said.

“Unless we lift our game we can’t guarantee our survival.

“We are talking about consumer protection. If you are selling your most valuable asset you want to have confidence that the agent is well trained. You want to deal with a trusted adviser in what is often a complex journey.

“My goal is to move the entry level and have a three-tier system. I am keen to focus on the standards of the profession.

“The year 2016 will be an extremely important year for our profession as we strive to take back control of our profession from those who clearly have no understanding of what it is to be a real estate agent.”