A legislative package outlining draft proposals to reform national licensing for refrigeration and air conditioning occupations was released yesterday.
The package includes four licensing options for consideration plus draft amendments to the Occupational Licensing National Law Act 2010.
Feedback to the package must be submitted by October 12, 2012.
There are about 12,700 refrigeration and air-conditioning licensees and 29,453 Commonwealth Arctick licence holders (working with ozone depleting refrigerants) across Australia.
The industry is predominantly made up of small to medium scale contractors with the four largest enterprises accounting for 19 per cent of the total revenue base.
While a third of annual revenue is derived from maintenance and repair services on existing equipment, there is a trend for companies to have the capacity to provide a broad range of temperature control services from installation right through to monitoring and maintenance.
In the 2011/12 financial year the HVAC industry generated $4.65 billion in revenue, down 2.1 per cent from 2010/11.
Other issues raised in the legislative package includes the need for greater labour mobility to address a growing skills shortage.
The current state and territory based approach to the regulation and licensing of the refrigeration and air conditioning occupations means there are up to nine different approaches to the regulation of the occupation and three different approaches to the setting of licensing requirements.
This is impacting the ability for contractors to meet spikes in demand in different parts of the country.
For example, there was a huge spike in demand for contractors following the Queensland floods.
There is still about $200 million worth of repair and replacement installation work required through to 2014 but mechanics seeking to work interstate are being rejected under current arrangements.
Two licensing structures are proposed currently known as model A and model B.
Model A proposes licensing at the contractor, full licence and provisional licence levels.
This is the model preferred by the Interim Advisory Committee.
Model B proposes partial regulation and provides for national licensing at the contractor level only.
The Commonwealth Arctick licence would be considered as the ‘occupational or worker’ licence, as the Arctick licence will remain as a Commonwealth requirement for those working with fluorocarbon refrigerants in the refrigeration and air conditioning occupations under national licensing.
A provisional licence will not be required under this model.
Then there is the option of no licensing (except for the Commonwealth Arctick licence). This means individuals and businesses in NSW, Victoria and Queensland would not require a licence in additi8on to the Commonwealt Arctick licence.
While no national or state licensing will exist, regulation of the occupation will continue through the requirement to hold a Commonwealth Arctick licence.
Implementation of a national licensing framework, which is expected to commence on July 1, 2013, is being coordinated by the National Occupational Licensing Authority (NOLA).
NOLA was established earlier this year along with a National Licensing Board which appointed Elizabeth Crouch as chair in March, 2012.
More details are available at www.nola.com.au