Under the Intergovernmental Agreement for a National Licensing System for Specified Occupations, signed by states and territories in April 2009, the COAG National Licensing Steering Committee was given responsibility to oversee the implementation of national licensing in the interim period before the establishment of the National Occupational Licensing Authority. The steering committee reports on progress to the Business, Regulation and Competition Working Group and, through the
Commonwealth Treasury, to the Standing Council on Federal Financial Relations. Membership of the steering committee comprises central agency representatives from each jurisdiction.
In considering policy issues, the steering committee and its advisory committees are bound by the objectives and principles in the Intergovernmental Agreement, including a requirement to comply with COAG’s principles of best practice regulation. These principles include a requirement to establish a case for action; to consider and cost a range of response options, including
non-regulatory approaches; and to ensure that the response selectedprovides the greatest net benefit to the community as a whole. Key stakeholders must be consulted and government action must be
‘effective and proportional’ to the issue being addressed.
The steering committee’s primary source of advice for occupational regulations is the interim advisory committees established for each of the occupational areas, each of which has an associated Regulator Working Group. Members of the advisory committee represent a balance of expertise relevant to an occupational area across the fields of regulation, industry operations and practices (from both a union and employee perspective), safety, consumer advocacy, insurance (where relevant) and training. The regulator working group comprises regulator members from each relevant jurisdiction. Membership lists are provided in Attachment C.
The Plumbing and Gasfitting Interim Advisory Committee has developed policy advice over a period of 18 months. The majority of advice provided by the interim advisory committees has been incorporated into the steering committee policy advice for the drafting of the national licensing
1: General policy context
3 Amendment Bill and regulations and is considered in this Consultation RIS for the plumbing and gasfitting occupations. There are, however, instances where, after having regard to the objectives and principles set out in the Intergovernmental Agreement, the steering committee formed a different view to that of the interim advisory committee. Such instances are discussed in Chapter 3.
Government representatives from all jurisdictions provided policy advice and are contributing to the drafting instructions for the Amendment Bill and regulations, including representatives from
Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, which have not yet enacted the National Law.
Accordingly, the impact analysis and cost–benefit calculations take into account the current regulatory arrangements in all jurisdictions.
It should be noted that policy development for mechanical services plumbing was undertaken by the Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Interim Advisory Committee due to the significant overlaps with that occupational area. The scope of work of the mechanical services plumber covers the
installation, operation and maintenance of building mechanical services plant and equipment used for heating, cooling and ventilating systems. Close communications concerning relevant policy discussions on mechanical services were maintained between the two groups on an ongoing basis.
The steering committee, in March 2011, made the decision that mechanical services should sit with the plumbing and gasfitting occupational area.
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2 Current regulatory approach
The plumbing and gasfitting occupations are currently licensed under state and territory legislation and administered by jurisdictional regulators. All jurisdictions have some form of licensing, though the approach to licensing varies across jurisdictions. In general, the larger jurisdictions (New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland) follow a segmented approach, with a greater range of categories that have more narrowly defined regulated work. In contrast, the smaller jurisdictions (Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory) tend to follow a general approach, with a limited number of categories and broad scopes of work.
These differences may be due to different responses to market demands. For example, in larger jurisdictions where there is a greater volume of work, licensing requirements have responded by providing a model that allows greater specialisation. An overview of the sector and current regulatory requirements is provided in Attachment D.
These differences impact on the training required. The national Certificate III in Plumbing requires an apprentice to undertake four streams of work, two (water plumbing and sanitary plumbing) of which are mandatory, but jurisdictions may specify mandatory additional streams, such as drainage, to gain a standard plumbing or gasfitting licence in their jurisdiction.
It should also be noted that Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory license plumbers and gasfitters through two separate regulatory agencies.
Summary of jurisdictional approaches New South Wales
New South Wales has three tiers of licence – contractor licence, qualified supervisor certificate and tradesperson certificate.
An individual contractor can possess both the technical skills and the ability to contract. If holding the technical skills the licence would be ‘endorsed’ to indicate this.
If a contractor does not have the technical skills, a qualified supervisor is required as a nominee.
A broad category of plumber exists, which includes water supply and sanitary work. There is also a separate water plumber and a separate drainage licence.
Restricted water plumber licences cover several fire protection categories.
An urban irrigation licence is issued.
A licence or registration is not offered for mechanical services work.
Three separate licences are issued for gas work - gasfitting work (natural gas), LPG (vapour phase) and advanced LPG (liquid and vapour phase) and a registration is issued for gasfitting work only.
Victoria
Victoria has two tiers of licence – a licensee and a registration; it does not have a separate contractor level. A licensee is able to contract with the public and certify, and a registered person is also able to contract with the public.
Water supply and sanitary work are regulated as separate categories, and water supply work does not include backflow prevention, which is available as an endorsement.
2: Current regulatory approach
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Fire protection is a separate category on its own; however, there are a number of restricted fire protection licences that can be issued to those holding a registration or licence in water supply.
A separate urban irrigation licence is available.
A restricted licence is issued to allow gasfitters and electricians to disconnect and reconnect water supply as a subordinate component of their job.
Type A gasfitting is currently licensed as gasfitting work. Two endorsements – Type A Appliance conversion work and Type A Appliance servicing work – are issued on a gasfitting registration or licence.
Type B work is currently licensed as two separate endorsements of specialised gasfitting work – Type B gasfitting work and Type B advanced gasfitting work.
It is usual for Victoria to apply a test or examination of skills in addition to a qualification requirement.
Queensland
Queensland licenses through three regulatory agencies:
the Plumbing Industry Council, which primarily covers plumbing work
the Queensland Building Services Authority, which regulates building, trade contracting (including plumbing and gasfitting contractors) and occupational fire protection work (which is not regulated plumbing work)
the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, regulates gas work, apart from work at the contractor level, which is regulated by the Queensland Building Services Authority.
Queensland has three tiers of licence – contractor, licence and provisional/interim (registration equivalent).
A broad category of plumber exists, which includes water supply, sanitary work and backflow prevention.
Drainage is a separate category.
A provisional/interim licence is issued for the equivalent of the tradesperson registration and is available for only one year.
There are a large number of fire protection licences; 25 classes of occupational licence are issued by the Queensland Building Services Authority alone. Those available under plumbing include fire protection work and fire sprinkler system work.
Urban irrigation work is licensed under the Queensland Building Services Authority.
A restricted licence is issued to allow plumbers and electricians to disconnect and reconnect water supply as a subordinate component of their job.
A Gas Type A licence is issued to individuals, but Gas Type B is issued to individuals and companies.
Queensland regulates mechanical services as part of a broader refrigeration and air-conditioning licence and not as a plumbing licence. This refrigeration and air-conditioning licence is issued at the contractor level only.
2: Current regulatory approach
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South Australia
Regulation exists at the contractor level (plumbing or gasfitting) or registration level (either unrestricted or restricted for plumbing or gasfitting work). An individual contractor is able to undertake the technical work if they personally hold an appropriate registration. A body corporate licensee must ensure that the regulated work is performed by a registered person authorised to perform the regulated work.
A general gasfitting licence (which includes Type A gas appliances) and a Type B gas appliance licence are issued.
A broad category of plumber exists, which includes water supply, sanitary work and backflow prevention, but there are also restricted licences for water supply, sanitary or drainage work.
South Australia has the ability, under legislation, to issue a very large number of restricted or conditioned licences tailored to the skills presented by an applicant.
A Gas Type A licence and a Gas Type B licence are issued.
A restricted licence is issued to allow gasfitters and electricians to disconnect and reconnect water supply as a subordinate component of their job.
A licence or registration is not offered for mechanical services work.
Western Australia
Regulation exists at the level of plumbing contractor or plumbing tradesperson. Contractors can undertake technical work.
A broad category of plumber exists, which includes water supply, sanitary work and backflow prevention, but there are also restricted licences for water supply, sanitary or drainage work.
A restricted licence is issued to allow gasfitters and electricians to disconnect and reconnect water supply as a subordinate component of their job.
Licences are issued for both Gas Type A and Gas Type B work.
A licence or registration is not offered for mechanical services work or fire protection work.
Tasmania
Tasmania has three tiers of licence – contractor, full licence, and plumbing or gasfitting practitioner.
A broad category of plumber exists, which includes water supply, sanitary work and backflow prevention.
A permit system is in place for those maintaining or repairing fire protection equipment, but a separate licence or registration is not offered for fire protection plumbing.
Tasmania issues Certificates of Competency (licences) for natural gas only. It also has a registration for LPG work.
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory has three types of plumbing licence (notwithstanding permits) - contractor (companies and partnerships only), plumber’s licence and journeyperson.
There is a separate drainer category.
2: Current regulatory approach
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The Australian Capital Territory has a broad category of plumber, which includes water supply, sanitary work and backflow prevention.
Fire sprinkler fitters are regulated at the level of both licence and journeyperson.
There are three tiers of individual licences for gasfitters – advanced, general and journeyperson and contractor licences for companies or partnerships wishing to offer a gasfitting services.
A licence or registration is not offered for mechanical services work or for disconnect/reconnect work.
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory has two tiers of licence – advanced tradesman licence and journeyperson registration.
The Northern Territory has a broad category of plumber, which includes water supply, sanitary work and backflow prevention.
A separate drainer licence is available.
Licensing exists for both Gas Type A at the registration level and Gas Type B (for commercial gasfitters) at the licence level.
A licence or registration is not offered for mechanical services work, fire protection work or disconnect/reconnect work.
Mutual recognition
Currently, occupational licence, registration or accreditation holders are able to work across jurisdictions under the Mutual Recognition Act 1992, to which all states and territories are signatories. Under the Mutual Recognition Act, occupational licence holders from one jurisdiction can apply to be registered in a second jurisdiction on the basis of their existing licence/s without further assessment of their skills. However, licence holders must still approach the regulator in each jurisdiction in which they wish to work, prove they are licensed in another jurisdiction, and pay a fee to receive an equivalent licence for the new jurisdiction. This process imposes financial costs and time delays, and may impede short-term interstate service provision. Mutual recognition does not apply to licensed corporations, or similar entities.
Ministerial Declarations for the plumbing and gasfitting occupations are made under section 32 of the Commonwealth Mutual Recognition Act 1992. These declarations contain matrices describing occupational licence equivalents across all jurisdictions. An excerpt from the plumbing and gasfitting mutual recognition matrix (as published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 2007) is in Table 2.1. This example illustrates the complexity involved in preparing and maintaining mutual
recognition matrices. The full suite of the ministerial declaration matrices can be accessed on the Australian Government’s Licence Recognition website. The Licence Recognition website also allows a licensee to search for the equivalent licence in another jurisdiction.
Table 2.1: Licence equivalence mapping of a South Australian plumbing licence with a New South Wales licence
Current licence in SA Equivalent Licence in NSW Restricted Plumbing Contractors
Licence – Water Plumbing Work
Contractor Licence – Water Plumbing Work (Q endorsed) AND Contractor Licence – Water Plumbing Work – Urban Irrigation (Q endorsed) AND Contractor Licence –Water Plumbing Work – Fire Protection Systems (Q endorsed) AND Supervisor Certificate – Water Plumbing Work AND Supervisor Certificate – Water Plumbing Work – Urban Irrigation AND Supervisor Certificate – Water Plumbing Work – Fire Protection Systems
2: Current regulatory approach
8 The Productivity Commission reviewed mutual recognition in 2003, and again in 2009. The
commission found in both reports that on the whole, mutual recognition had reduced impediments to labour mobility. In particular, it found that ‘mutual recognition appears to be associated with a modest increase in the number of interstate arrivals in registered occupations compared with other occupations.’12 On both occasions, the commission identified problems with the day-to-day
operation of mutual recognition, including equivalence of occupations, registrations coverage and the expertise of regulators.13 In cases where regulators do not apply mutual recognition correctly, complications can be created by conditions and restrictions placed on licensees when they move across jurisdictions. Both reports made recommendations for improvements.
The Productivity Commission supported the development of nationally uniform licensing requirements and national registration systems for occupations that were highly mobile across jurisdictions, where licence requirements between jurisdictions were significantly different, and where the benefits would justify the costs.
In some jurisdictions, there are existing licensing arrangements in place, outside of mutual recognition, which are designed to reduce the regulatory burden for licensees living in border regions. For example, New South Wales and Victoria have a cross-border agreement that enables individuals who are located on the New South Wales and Victorian border, and whose day-to-day work regularly takes them across the border, to only pay fees for a licence in the state where they live. Victoria however does require the payment of an application fee in these cases. This is arguably a form of enhanced mutual recognition. The other jurisdiction provides a reciprocal licence free of the requirement to pay a fee. Other jurisdictions may have similar arrangements in areas close to their borders.
There has been insufficient information provided as to how these cross-border only solutions
currently work. It should be noted that the information provided states that the cross-border mutual recognition is only available to certain licensees and occupations.
12 Productivity Commission 2003, Evaluation of the mutual recognition schemes: research report, p. 40.
13 See the Productivity Commission’s Review of Mutual Recognition Schemes, pp.59–62.
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3 Options for reform
This Consultation RIS provides a detailed overview of the policy options for national licensing identified through the policy development process. It does not discuss options for maintaining the existing jurisdictional arrangements except as a ‘base case’ (status quo) for assessing the impact, both quantitative and qualitative, of the introduction of national licensing. While another proposed option, automatic mutual recognition, represents a form of national licensing, it is a hybrid of the status quo and national licensing. It does not embody a consistent national approach to standard setting and policy. For clarity, therefore, where the term ‘national licensing’ is used in this Consultation RIS, it refers only to the consistent national licensing approaches represented by Options 3 and 4 in 3.1.