Dris proposal for national licensing of the electrical occupations

1General policy context

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in July 2008 agreed to wide-ranging regulatory reform to increase Australia’s productivity and provide the environment for a seamless national economy.

Many of the challenges facing the economy can only be addressed through more coordinated regulatory arrangements. The COAG reforms aim to provide a more streamlined, consistent and targeted regulatory environment across Australia, reducing inefficiencies and duplication, removing red tape and facilitating flexible and productive operating conditions for businesses and workers across Australia. These reforms have the potential to make life simpler for businesses and consumers, while continuing to provide the necessary protections and access for consumers and the community. National licensing is one of 27 key areas for regulatory reform agreed in 2008, the majority of which have now been implemented. Implementation of the remaining reforms, including national licensing, is being overseen by the Business Advisory Forum Taskforce, which is composed of senior state and territory officials.

There is no consistent national licensing approach of work categories or occupations in Australia. Each state and territory uses a separate licensing approach, with different licence categories, scope of regulated work and eligibility requirements. This hinders labour mobility across Australia and increases the regulatory burden for licensees and government. Attachment D contains an overview of the current regulatory approach.

COAG agreed to develop a national licensing system with the following characteristics:

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  cooperative national legislation
  
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  national governance arrangements to manage standard setting and policy issues and to ensure consistent administrative and compliance practices
  
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  all current holders of state and territory licences deemed across to the new licence system at its commencement
  
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  the establishment of a publicly available national register of licensees and former licensees
  
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  no legislative role for the Commonwealth in the establishment of the new system.
  

National licensing would initially be applied to four occupational areas, which were chosen based on the following selection criteria:

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  at least one critical area of the occupation licensed across all jurisdictions
  
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  all have been subject to the work on achieving full and effective mutual recognition
  
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  their importance to the economy in terms of level of demand, intrinsic mobility and number of licensees
  
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  the volume and nature of mutual recognition difficulties.
  

The four occupational areas are:

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  electrical
  
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  plumbing and gasfitting
  
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  property refrigeration and air-conditioning
  

The development of a national licensing system was endorsed by the states and territories in April 2009 by the signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement for a National Licensing System for Specified Occupations (the Intergovernmental Agreement).

The implementation strategy of the 2009 decision foreshadowed further research and consultation to inform more detailed arrangements regarding the implementation of national licensing for each of the occupations identified. Policy development work was undertaken from 2009–11 and culminated in a number of options for national licensing, which were included in a Consultation RIS for each of the occupations identified and released for public comment between July and August 2012.

The objective of this Decision RIS is to consider feedback received on the options proposed in the Consultation RIS and any further information that has come to light, and to recommend a preferred national licensing option, which provides the highest net benefit to the community, taking into account all the impacts.

National licensing is a threshold reform. It sets in place licensing eligibility requirements and the related disciplinary framework as the first step in developing a comprehensive national scheme that could, once fully developed, encompass the requirements for both obtaining a licence and the behaviour and standards (conduct) required to maintain a licence.

Details on the policy development process undertaken, together with the objectives and principles which underpinned the work, and the advisory mechanisms used, are provided at Attachment C.

A separate reform, which seeks to harmonise conduct requirements commencing with property occupations, is being considered by the Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs (formerly the Ministerial Council for Consumer Affairs). The full benefits of a national licensing system would be realised if this further reform is undertaken.

1.1The Occupational Licensing National Law Act 2010

National framework legislation through the Occupational Licensing National Law Act 2010 (the National Law) has been passed in six jurisdictions (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory) to establish national licensing.

The Bill passed Western Australia’s Legislative Assembly on 24 November 2010 and was referred to the Western Australia Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review. The Committee did not support the Bill in its current form, and Western Australia will consider its position on the passage of the Bill based on agreement of a preferred model in the Decision RIS.

The Australian Capital Territory has reserved its right not to implement national licensing if the costs to the Territory outweigh the benefits.

The National Law provides the high-level framework for national licensing policy and regulations. A copy of the National Law can be found on the national licensing website at www.nola.gov.au.

During the policy development process it became clear that some amendments to the National Law will be required. The release of the draft Amendment Bill and draft regulations coincided with the release of the Consultation RIS and public comment was sought on the package.