E-conveyancing competition calls intensify after PEXA ‘issue’

Reports began coming in on Friday morning that solicitors could not access and sign off on scheduled property settlements, resulting in some settlements being delayed.

The issue, which was reportedly impacting the Jellyfish mobile app used by PEXA subscribers to sign off on settlements, began about 10.30am.

While PEXA was able to identify the issue within an hour, the problem was not fully resolved until lunchtime.

PEXA has confirmed the issue had resulted in some delays and reschedules, but estimates that it was less than 10 per cent of settlements during that period.

It has said it is not aware that any settlements being missed as a result of the issue.

In a statement provided to The Adviser, a PEXA spokesperson said: “The PEXA Exchange experienced a technical issue affecting mobile signing capability on Friday, May 16, between 10.30am and 1.15pm.

“From 11.50am the system gradually allowed customers to use mobile signing and by 1.15pm the issue was fully resolved.

“We estimate that the disruption impacted less the 10 per cent of settlements during that period, which then went on later to settle or reschedule.

“We take any interruption to our customers very seriously and worked hard to ensure that booked settlements occurred.”

The spokesperson said PEXA was “grateful that customers were able to settle across Friday afternoon once the service was restored”, adding the company was “committed to maintaining the highest standards of service and transparency,”.

“We sincerely apologise to any customers who were inconvenienced by Friday's disruption,” they said.

Brokers affected by the delays have told The Adviser that only a few settlements were impacted, and most had cleared by the end of business on Friday or were rescheduled to Monday, without penalising the client.

However, the issue comes amid ongoing scrutiny of PEXA’s monopoly on the e-conveyancing market and just days after it was announced that the number of players willing to challenge PEXA’s position via the interoperability regime had shrunk.

The Electronic Lodgment Network Operator (ELNO) is believed to transact about 89 per cent of all digital property transactions in Australia through its PEXA Exchange. It estimates that around 20,000 families settle their property transactions each week through the exchange.

However, conveyancers and brokers alike have flagged that the lack of competition in market means any threats to PEXA puts the entire system at risk.

'Any outage, no matter how brief, can have far-reaching consequences'

All Hours Conveyancing Melbourne conveyancer (and President of the Victorian division of the Australian Institute of Conveyancers), Shakila Maclean, told The Adviser that while it was difficult to quantify the exact number of clients affected, it was “safe to say that the disruption was widespread in VIC”.

“Many firms had settlements delayed or rescheduled,” she said.

“Outages like Friday’s add a huge amount of pressure to our day. As practitioners, we’re already working under tight timelines, and when systems go down unexpectedly, it creates a stressful scramble to manage delays, communicate with all parties, and find solutions on the fly—often with very little information to go on,” Maclean said.

In a comment to The Adviser, the Australian Institute of Conveyancers (AIC) Nationals, added: “While Friday’s disruption was ultimately resolved within a few hours and some jurisdictions experienced minimal impact, feedback from our members nationwide highlights the wider consequences of even short outages, particularly on high-volume settlement days like Friday.

"Clients were left waiting, settlements were delayed, and practitioners had to manage operational pressures without clear real-time updates.

“This incident, while not a full platform outage, underscores growing concerns about system resilience and contingency planning.

“As the industry becomes more reliant on digital platforms like PEXA, there must be stronger transparency, better communication during incidents, and real alternatives in the event of major disruptions.”

The group continued: “The reality is that PEXA currently operates as a de facto monopoly. With no meaningful alternative available to practitioners in most jurisdictions, any outage, no matter how brief, can have far-reaching consequences for consumers and conveyancers alike.

“Greater competition and genuine interoperability are urgently needed to ensure resilience, choice, and continuity in the digital property settlement space.

“We acknowledge the resolution efforts made, but the time has come for deeper industry collaboration and more robust safeguards to ensure consumers are not left bearing the brunt of system failures.”

Reflecting on the issue, a spokesperson for e-conveyancing platform Sympli commented: "These outages are becoming all too frequent – the recent outage Friday, 16 May disrupted property settlements across Australia for at least 3 hours. This put enormous pressure on industry and home buyers who were waiting for settlement to move into their new homes. This is more than a technology failure; it's one that significantly impacts the lives of everyday Australians.

"Currently, the PEXA monopoly operates a $800-billion+ settlement single point of failure given there is no backup in case of a system-wide outage. Only through competition via interoperability can resiliency be delivered to the market.

"We need government to take action and deliver on the competition commitment it made to industry years ago," they told The Adviser.

[Related: Interoperability hits another snag as LEXTECH withdraws]