August 2019 will go down as an iconic month for Engineers Australia.

At the beginning of August, Engineers Australia staff, members and supporters celebrated the organisation’s 100th birthday.

By the final week of August, Engineers Australia then welcomed the passage of the Professional Engineers Registration Bill 2019 through the Victorian Parliament.

The new laws will make it compulsory for Victorian civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and fire-safety engineers to be registered and will make it an offence for those who are not registered to provide professional engineering services.

As Engineers Australia Public Affairs Manager Jonathan Russell put it, the decision has now changed the conversation from ‘if this happens’ to ‘what happens next?’.

It also leaves questions for not only Victorian engineers, but for all engineers and engineering professionals working in Australia.

Jonathan says Engineers Australia will focus its advocacy on the east coast to align registration schemes and ensure there are no gaps.

“The next obvious target is NSW. As the state with the most engineers and currently sitting in between jurisdictions with engineer registrations schemes, it will be a focus for continued calls to put in place a scheme,” he says.

NSW in the middle

As jurisdictions like Victoria make the final commitment to put in place engineers’ registration, the NSW building sector continues to be embroiled in a number of issues that threaten the stability of the industry.

Recent independent recommendations for the NSW building industry, to introduce a registration scheme for engineers currently unregistered in the state, are at risk of being ignored or watered down.

Recommendations from the Building Ministers Forum’s (BMF) report, Building Confidence and the final report into the causes of the structural damage to Sydney’s Opal Tower both state the need for a scheme.

Jonathan says with the news of legislation being passed in Victoria, the pressure is now on NSW to align with Victoria and Queensland.

“The current NSW government is tackling building sector reform requirements and with that is registration of engineers,” he says. “We’re seeing this situation, along with the passing of the registration bill in Victoria, as the catalyst for debate that registration is necessary comprehensively across industries.”

What it means for members in Victoria

Days before the passing of the registration bill in Victoria, respected engineers from across the industry spoke in a video testimonial to promote the bill.

Engineers Australia’s General Manager – Victoria, Alesha Printz, says the video was not just the views of a few prominent engineers, but is reflective of the wider Engineers Australia membership.

“The vast majority of our members are ready for this. They want this, they expect this, and they're prepared for this,” she says.

“We will advocate for the legislation to apply to all engineers who are recognised as professional engineers.”

Alesha says the passing of the bill was only the first step. Now, much of the leg work can be done to build regulations that deliver the best interests of not only engineers but for Victorian communities.

With the passing of the legislation, Victoria’s Department of Consumer Affairs will now create regulations and rules to support the scheme.

The vital next steps

Alesha says the government will run its consultation process in parallel with Engineers Australia’s consultation with members – hopefully within the next six months.

“We've got our members' views to take into consideration when we prepare our submission for them and as we work with them,” she says.

“We have to make sure that we've got a good scheme in place for members and something that's workable.”

In the next few years, Engineers Australia Victoria hopes to be within a transition period, coordinating with other states and maximising mobility of engineers across jurisdictions at the lowest cost.

Alesha says they are also keen to revisit the legislation to introduce the remaining engineering disciplines that are not currently included.

“Right now, any scheme that is introduced will impact only five engineering disciplines, but the intention is that all disciplines will eventually be covered.”

“We've got a commitment that... the scheme can introduce other engineers.”

Lessons Learnt

As the pressure mounts on NSW, and even the ACT, to adopt a registration scheme, there’s an opportunity to look at how the lessons from Victoria can apply to other states and territories.

Before the passing of the legislation in Victoria, the last engineer’s registration scheme was created 90 years ago in Queensland.

Alesha says the process in Victoria is still new for everyone involved and there’s a lot to learn from the decisions being made.

“It’s important to consult members and we are doing that in Victoria with the opening of the consultation period,” she says.

“It’s about providing members with that mechanism, and plenty of opportunities to have conversations about what it looks like. And making sure that the process is also transparent.”

What can you do as a member?

As the news of the legislation reaches members and eligible engineers, the next obvious question is what to do now?

While the legislation is still a while off from being solidified into a registration scheme, there are still some things for engineers to think about, particularly young engineers entering the profession.

“We'll be advocating for all engineers who are registered on the National Engineers Register (NER) as a professional engineer to be recognised under the statutory system,” she says.

“To young engineers, I'd say start looking at getting chartered, because it's a great process to prepare yourself for registration.”

“And make sure that you’re doing your continuing professional development.”

Alesha says while many of the details are yet to materialise, members shouldn’t feel like they’re on their own and should call if they have questions.

“If you're not sure if you meet the criteria for the Victorian registration scheme, please contact us. We can tell you whether you met the criteria for NER, and we expect that every professional engineer on the NER to be recognised.”