Page 315 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 February 2010
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accredits the installers. There is no state or territory in the country that provides for the regulation of insulation installation, so there is no licensing regime for installation.
Obviously there are obligations in relation to safe work practice, which is the responsibility of my agency, and there are obligations in relation to protecting the rights of consumers, which is also the responsibility of my agency. There are also matters in relation to the protection of building safety and electrical safety, which are the responsibility of Minister Barr’s portfolio.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Mr Smyth?
MR SMYTH: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, did any representative of the ACT government provide any information to other participants in the call relating to any safety issues? If so, what was the nature of the warnings?
MR CORBELL: The building safety issues were raised by representatives of the Planning and Land Authority, so I would refer that matter to Mr Barr.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Barr?
MR BARR: Yes, officials from the ACT Planning and Land Authority were summoned by the commonwealth and requested to discuss this, as part of a compliance workshop in relation to this particular commonwealth program, and did provide some advice, which I understand is recorded in the minutes of that particular meeting of 29 April. I do not have those minutes but they may well be available from the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts at a national level, as it was their meeting. If members are interested, they can pursue that matter with the commonwealth department.
States and territories did express some concern, as Minister Corbell has indicated, particularly in relation to the electrical industry OH&S issues that have an overlap, obviously, between my portfolio responsibilities around building regulation and those of Minister Corbell in occupational health and safety. It is important to note in this context that the ACT does not license installers. This is due to the fact that installation of insulation is predominantly during the new construction phase, so it is regulation through the building approval process and it is certified by licensed building surveyors.
In the context of the ACT, of course, as I think the Liberal Party would be aware, given their election commitment of 2008, the level of uninsulated homes in the ACT is very low. So the ACT did not feature significantly in this commonwealth program. The bulk of the insulation that was installed under this commonwealth program was for jurisdictions well to the north of us.
Visitors
MR SPEAKER: Members, I would like to acknowledge the presence in the gallery today of participants in the ACT public service graduate program. I welcome you to the Assembly.
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