NSW Digital Minister urges PEXA to improve outage reporting

NSW’s digital minister has called for electronic conveyancing provider PEXA Group to improve its incident reporting and accelerate the resolution of service outages.

NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib at senate estimates

Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said he had recently met with the ASX-listed firm to discuss ways to enhance transparency around service disruptions over the last 19 months.

PEXA has acknowledged 92 outage incidents that occurred during calendar year 2024, with 10 of those attributed to internal issues, while the rest were linked to "networks such as banks and land registries connecting into the PEXA platform".

Meanwhile, the company’s public incident history shows 35 “significant service disruptions” have been recorded so far in 2025.

Of these, 15 were linked to internal problems, while the remaining 20 were attributed to a “third-party connected network.”

Speaking at a NSW budget estimates hearing, Dib acknowledged the need for clearer communication and faster response times, adding that he was briefed “fairly regularly” by the Registrar General on the outage.

“Part of the conversation [in] my last meeting with PEXA [was] looking at improving the reporting on incidents," Dib said.

“One thing I said clearly to PEXA is that not all of those outages are the result of PEXA; they’re sometimes third-party, but we need some really clear reporting and quick reporting to tighten that up. And they accepted [that]."

Dib’s comments come amid a long-running push to widen competition in the electronic conveyancing industry through what’s known as the interoperability program.

Led by the Australian Registrars National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC), the reform aims to create links between electronic lodgement network operators (ELNOs) - namely PEXA and competitor Sympli - and banks during property transactions.

The reform was paused in June 2024 amid concerns raised by the banking industry, before being restarted in February, with findings expected to be published next month.

Dib said the “whole process [had] been difficult”, in part due to market conditions.

“I would like to think that when I get that review, it can help inform a really clear line of exactly where we are at.”

He also indicated interest in convening a cross-functional ministerial forum on e-conveyancing, but would not commit to doing so ahead of the report's release.

“We’re working on this on a national level,” he added. “We kind of expect the feds to step it up a bit.”

In a statement to iTnews, a PEXA spokesperson said: "PEXA is currently participating in an NSW Upper house inquiry and a Federal Sente inquiry where we continue to demonstrate the value that the PEXA platform has delivered to Australia.

"We will continue to participate in regulatory and parliamentary reviews as required, where we will similarly demonstrate the positive aspects of our services and innovations."