Dris proposal for national licensing of the plumbing and gasfitting occupations

1.8Transitional arrangements

Deeming of current licence holders

The Intergovernmental Agreement provides for deeming arrangements for current licence holders to transition to the national licensing scheme. Any licensee who is deemed into the scheme is considered to fulfil the qualification requirements needed for continuing eligibility while they continue to hold that licence. Current jurisdictional licensees will be transitioned into the national licensing system based on the following deeming principles:

No disadvantage – all current licence holders will be able to do tomorrow, under national licensing, what they are able to do today. The deeming process will authorise a licensee to do a similar scope of work under national licensing to that authorised under their current jurisdictional licence.

Current licensees will not be required to undertake any additional training or testing to be eligible for the relevant national licence category.

A jurisdiction will not be required to adopt a national licence category that is not currently licensed by that jurisdiction when national licensing commences, in accordance with clause 4.2(f) of the Intergovernmental Agreement.

Some work currently requiring a licence will not be regulated work under national licensing and a licence will no longer be required for that work.

Adoption of a ‘best fit’ approach – some licences will not have a direct equivalent and a current category may map to more than one category or a category plus an endorsement. Alternatively, some categories may have a scope of work that is significantly less than that proposed for a national licence and conditions or restrictions may be applied to achieve a best fit. It is necessary to apply restrictions and conditions to ensure licensees are not transitioned to licences that would allow them to undertake a wider scope of work than their current licences allow, as this could pose an unacceptable safety risk to themselves and the community.

Each jurisdiction has undertaken a process to map straightforward, like-to-like equivalences of jurisdictional licences to the relevant national licence category or categories. This mapping, which covers some 80 per cent of current jurisdictional licences, will be incorporated into the jurisdictional transitional legislation.

The exception to this is for those licensees that have conditions or directions applied as a result of disciplinary action; in these cases, the licence will be transitioned ‘as is’.

Following is information on the deeming of jurisdictional licences under specific circumstances.

Administrative transactions that were initiated before national licensing begins

All applications for the issue, renewal or restoration of a licence lodged before the national licensing commencement date will continue to be assessed under the relevant jurisdictional licensing legislation in place immediately prior to the commencement of national licensing. The licence will then be transitioned to national licensing.

Disciplinary and court processes and actions

All applications lodged in relation to disciplinary and court processes and actions, including internal reviews, before the national licensing commencement date will continue to be assessed under the relevant jurisdictional licensing legislation in place immediately prior to the commencement of national licensing. The decision will take effect as though it was made under the National Law. If a decision is made under the old law for the disciplinary action and an appeal within the given appeal period has not been made at the time when national licensing commences, the right to appeal will continue under the old law.

Transitioning suspended licensees

All licensees suspended under relevant jurisdictional licensing legislation will continue to remain suspended under national licensing until the suspension expires and during the period of suspension will not be able to operate in any jurisdiction.

3.3.5 Transitioning disqualified licensees and cancelled licences

A person who currently has a cancelled licence, as a result of a disciplinary action, for a specific occupation and licence type in any jurisdiction but a valid licence in another jurisdiction, for the same category of licence, would not be transitioned to a national licensing system licence if the period of the cancellation has not expired or the cancellation decision was made in the last two years. The valid licence, held for the same category of licence, in the secondary jurisdiction would also be considered disqualified or cancelled and the person would not be able to operate in any jurisdiction. Under the new law this person would be treated as an excluded person nationally until the cancellation or disqualification period has expired. It is recognised that this may be taking away a person’s right to work; however, this is a fundamental part of the design of the system which is aimed at protecting the public safety and the consumer.

Eligibility for those who initiated training before national licensing begins

An applicant who initiated a qualification or course that was required immediately before the commencement of the National Law will be deemed to have met the qualification-based eligibility requirements provided that, immediately before the commencement date, the applicant was enrolled in the course or program for the issue of an equivalent jurisdictional licence.

Eligibility for those who completed training before national licensing begins

An applicant who completes a qualification or course that was required in a jurisdiction immediately before the commencement of the National Law for a jurisdictional licence will be deemed to have met the skills-based eligibility requirement for a national licence for the period of three years from commencement of national licensing for that occupation.

A person holding a qualification not recognised under national licensing should seek advice from the licensing regulator in that jurisdiction about the possibility of obtaining a national licence. A person moving to a jurisdiction where a national licence will be required to undertake the type of work they do, and who does not hold a qualification, will need to contact NOLA for details on how to apply for the licence. Options will include seeking recognition of prior learning from a registered training organisation. The IAC proposed that a national skill and knowledge currency test should be developed and applied in these circumstances.

Lapsed licences

A licence that has lapsed within the restoration period provided in current jurisdictional legislation preceding the commencement of the national licensing system will be restored upon application under the old law and deemed to an equivalent licence under the National Law.

Current trainees for a restricted licence

A person in training for a restricted licence that would have been granted under current jurisdictional legislation, but that will not exist under the national licensing system, will be eligible to apply for a licence with limitations on the scope of work that make it equivalent to the former jurisdictional restricted licence for a period of up to 12 months following completion of their training.

Consultation

Approximately 90 per cent of submissions which contained responses to the questions on the transitional arrangements indicated support for the proposals. It is proposed that the provisions remain unchanged.