Engineers Australia Chief Engineer Jane MacMaster spoke to Sarah MacDonald on ABC Radio Sydney this morning about the role that Engineers Australia can, is and should be playing in co-regulating the profession.   

Engineers Australia is a membership organisation and not an industry regulator. It is not empowered to impose fines on members, order customer compensation, lay criminal charges or ban members from practice.  

Such powers are reserved for the relevant statutory bodies. However, within our capacity as a non-profit, membership-based organisation, Engineers Australia has the mandate to investigate complaints and enforce penalties such as suspending or expelling members from the organisation.  

We are also equipped to refer complaints to the appropriate statutory authorities when necessary. 

While Engineers Australia is not the regulator, it is a leading voice for the profession, advocating for reform, mandatory registrations and stronger standards. We led, for example, a campaign to encourage the NSW Government to introduce a statutory registration scheme for all engineers which was eventually incorporated to the Design and Building Practitioners Act.  

We are also the Australian engineering standards setting body, as Australia’s signatory to the International Engineering Alliance (IEA), and we strongly encourage all regulators to adopt these standards to help ensure engineering practitioners are meeting the minimum national competency requirements before they are eligible to practise independently. 

We have a strong working partnership and regular engagement with the Building Commission NSW and the Department of Fair Trading. We have partnered with them to develop training courses for construction engineers, participated in working groups, developed user guides, and provided advice on the development of legislation and regulations. This work is ongoing. 

We agree on the need for enhanced registration processes and elevated standards throughout the building industry. We also believe strongly that this is a whole of industry responsibility that includes, builders, architects, developers and designers.  

In alignment with this vision, Engineers Australia is spearheading the drive for nationally consistent registration schemes for engineers across Australia. This effort also encompasses continual enhancements to the professional standards requirements for engineers, in collaboration with businesses, governments and industry stakeholders. 

Community confidence in engineering and engineers depends on greater public awareness of registration, and faith in the way these schemes are managed.  

Engineers Australia is committed to taking an active approach with regular reporting of the outcomes of audits and complaints to maintain this confidence. 

In these times, it is more important than ever for the industry to collaborate constructively to ensure the availability of high-quality housing and building infrastructure, thereby enhancing outcomes for the community.  

Our role, although not regulatory, is integral in guiding the engineering profession towards these shared goals of excellence, safety and reliability in the building industry. We will continue working with government and industry partners to achieve these.