THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
Section
FROM NECA
heading
18
National Licensing
still on the Agenda
Despite the release of the federal
government’s Regulatory Impact
Statement on the proposed national
licencing scheme in late 2013 and its
subsequent withdrawal, the issue of a
national licencing scheme is still firmly
on the agenda at NECA according to
Executive Director Philip Green.
NECA has long been a supporter
and proponent of national licensing
and had worked very hard with the
National Occupational Licensing
Authority to develop a workable national
licensing system which importantly
maintained standards.
Unfortunately, despite over four years of
hard work and consultation with other
key industry players such as Energy Safe
Victoria, to develop a working model that
met all the relevant issues that had been
identified, the proposal was thwarted by
the federal bureaucracy, which came up
with a proposal which would have totally
gutted the electrical trade.
As a consequence, NECA successfully
lobbied against that proposal at both
a state and federal level and the
outcome being an announcement in late
Decemberwhich was then rejected by
the federal and all State and Territory
governments. Unfortunately, the entire
process was a major opportunity lost and
it appears likely that it will be some time
before governments will again have the
appetite to consider national licensing.
A new body has been established to
manage the process of developing a
new national licensing model. In a
communique from COAG explaining the
situation moving forward COAG said….
“States agreed to work together via the
Council for the Australian Federation
(CAF) to develop alternative options for
minimising licensing impediments to
improving labour mobility and to manage
the orderly disestablishment of the
National Occupation Licensing Authority.”.
Vale
Kevin Stevens
Late last year Kevin Stevens was
awarded the prestigious NECA National
Teacher of the Year Award.
Kevin was recognised by his peers
as being one of the most dedicated
and skilled teachers that the industry
has. So it was with great shock that
his colleagues and many friends
were notified of his sudden passing in
early March.
He will be sadly missed.
Black
Saturday
…5 years
on
“While for many the scars will never
go away, five years on and Victorians
remembered the horrific and tragic events
of that terrible day. No matter how you
look at it, the Black Saturday bushfires
have left a permanent scar on all of us
that were involved