Page 1829 - Week 06 - Thursday, 5 June 2014
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MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (11.05): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
This bill amends the Gas Safety Act and regulation and the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act and regulation. The bill moves accreditation of gas appliance workers from under the Gas Safety Act into the occupational regulatory framework established under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act.
The accreditation of gas appliance workers is the last occupational regulation that remains in an operational act administered by the Construction Occupations Registrar. Gas appliance worker accreditation was not subject to the initial competition reforms that led to the new licensing act in 2004. It is currently regulated by a code determined in 2007. The code requires revision to include new qualifications and methods of assessment and clarify the rights and obligations of accredited people. A number of these revisions would have effectively re-created relevant provisions in the licensing act which have been tested and refined over almost a decade of operation.
So instead of duplicating processes under two separate acts, this bill provides for further consolidation of occupational regulation into the licensing act.
The bill includes transitional provisions so that every person accredited immediately prior to the commencement of the new licensing system will be automatically licensed with the same scope of work they are currently accredited to do. Any pending decisions on suspensions and cancellations will need to be finalised and are taken as decisions under the licensing act. For continuity, the bill also allows applications for accreditation and renewal outstanding at the time of commencement to be processed without a new application being made. All review rights are preserved for decisions of suspension, cancellation, accreditation and renewal.
Gas accreditation workers are already subject to a disciplinary system and to other powers such as inspection and information gathering powers and directions to make an installation compliant. While some additional processes will apply—for example, demerit points—the licensing act creates a much clearer set of rights of review and obligations. Eligibility criteria and requirements for ongoing renewals are also well defined.
The bill also translates the existing accreditation levels into occupation classes that bring licensing in line with current qualifications and practice. A number of accredited people are also familiar with the construction licensing system as they hold licences and permits in other occupations. The transfer to the licensing act means that those practitioners will only need to hold one licence and one licence number. Gas accreditation and gas appliance work are already managed by the same teams as those who manage the licensing act, so it is not expected that there will be any significant disruption for industry.
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