Review of electrical trade licensing

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG), a peak intergovernmental forum has targeted trade licensing and product safety for regulatory reform.

Comprising the Prime Minister, State Premiers and Territory Chief Ministers, COAG identified business regulation and competition as a priority area in its 2008 work agenda to reduce the regulatory burden on business.

Topics chosen for review included occupational health and safety, trades licensing and consumer safety – all areas that could affect the administration of electrical safety in Queensland.

A working group is considering a set of national trade licensing reform principles and a national legislative system for selected trades including electrical occupations.

The working group will report back on these matters, taking into account non-skills barriers to regulatory reform (such as additional business registration requirements) in October 2008.

COAG has also determined the national harmonisation of occupational health and safety legislation to be a top priority.