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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Thursday, 1 April 2004) . . Page.. 1546 ..

has advised the government on the drafting of this bill included representatives of the RAIA, the Board of Architects and the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia.

The quality of this bill is due largely to the sharing of knowledge and professional advice on the legislative requirements to make it workable, effective and, most importantly, consistent with the national harmonisation principles. The bill is a significant step towards the harmonisation of architects legislation. It provides a more effective framework for ensuring consumers have access to and knowledge of the professional competencies required of registered architects. It will make an important contribution to improving the quality of building design in our city. I commend the bill to the Assembly and thank members for their support of the bill in principle.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Detail stage

Clauses 1 to 6, by leave, taken together and agreed to.

Clause 7.

(Quorum formed.)

MRS DUNNE (5.19): I move amendment No 1 on the pink paper circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 1612].

This is the first of three amendments to be moved by me which, as I said in the in principle stage, seeks to more closely harmonise this bill with the New South Wales act. This definition substitutes the definition in the current act, which is somewhat circular, with the definition contained in the New South Wales act which more accurately describes architectural services. The questions of definition are a problem. Sometimes we end up with definitions which are descriptions of the bleeding obvious in some ways. For instance it says in clause 7 (1) of the existing act that in this act “architectural services” means a service about architecture that is ordinarily provided by a person eligible to be registered under this act.

It does not actually say anything about what sort of service that is. It is not very descriptive and it was one of the things that gave pause to myself. When I discovered that this was also a concern at the Institute of Architects I thought it was reasonable that we should adopt something more rigorous. The principal complaint, and what the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in the ACT had to say about this legislation was that there was not enough harmonisation with New South Wales and that, if you have people working across the border, it is appropriate that there should be more harmonisation. This definition is the definition in the New South Wales act and it means that we are comparing apples with apples. I commend the amendment to the House.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Health and Minister for Planning) (5.21): The government will be supporting this amendment which inserts the definition of “architectural services” that is in the New South Wales Architects Act 2003. I am sure members will be interested to know that the definition proposed by Mrs Dunne is in fact the original definition proposed by the government at the start of this legislative reform process. The

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