Thursday, 19 November 2020

MEDIA RELEASE

Automatic mutual recognition pushed out to 1 July 2021

A proposal for automatic mutual recognition of state and territory occupational licences, which had been announced to commence on 1 Jan 2021, has been pushed out to 1 July 2021 after a meeting of the National Cabinet.

According to a National Cabinet media statement, ‘The National Cabinet agreed in principle to establish an Intergovernmental Agreement on Automatic Mutual Recognition of Occupational Licences, with that agreement to be signed by the end of the year following further work by the Council of Federal Financial Relations. To give effect to this, draft legislation to amend the Commonwealth Mutual Recognition Act 1992 will be released by the end of the year to facilitate automatic mutual recognition commencing by 1 July 2021’.

Automatic mutual recognition is intended to address impediments to labour mobility across jurisdictions by allowing individuals who hold an occupational licence in one Australian jurisdiction to undertake equivalent work in another jurisdiction under that licence. The objective is to make it easier and less expensive for businesses and tradespeople to operate across borders.

For further information, please contact Alex Doran, General Manager, Communications and Business Development at the ARC on 03 9843 1601 or email adoran@arctick.org