Edition 67, May 2009

COAG agrees to a national licensing system

On 30 April 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and released a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) for a national licensing system.

This is one of a series of reforms recommended by COAG's Business Regulation and Competition Working Group (BRCWG), and represents a further step towards the development of a national licensing system for specified occupations.

Through the signing of the IGA, states and territories have agreed to begin the implementation process for the national licensing system which is scheduled to commence on 1 July 2012.

The national licensing system will include relevant business and occupational licensing in the following initial occupational areas:

  • air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics
  • building and building related occupations
  • electrical
  • land transport (passenger vehicle drivers and dangerous goods only)
  • maritime
  • plumbing and gasfitting
  • property agents.

A national licensing body will be established which will develop policy and administer the system. The national licensing body will be governed by a national licensing board. In turn, occupational licensing advisory committees will be set-up to provide advice on licence policy for the occupational areas under the national licensing system.

The national licensing system aims to facilitate a consistent skills base for licensed occupational areas by providing input into the development of Training Packages and review processes on the skill and education eligibility requirements of occupational licences. (Please refer to section 4.3 of the IGA for more information.)

The full details of the implementation process including the proposed implementation schedule are outlined in full in the IGA.

In conjunction with the signing of the IGA, COAG have released the Decision Regulation Impact Statement, and this will assist with the development of the framework for a national licensing system for Australia.

For more information and to access the Intergovernmental Agreement and the Decision Regulation Impact Statement visit the National Licensing website at www.govdex.gov.au/confluence/display/COAGNL/Home

This page was generated on 01 October, 2009