Professional registration timetable confirmed

The Victorian government is moving ahead with its plan for compulsory professional registration of engineers, and has released more information about when and how the scheme will come into effect.

Consumer Affairs Victoria held a forum on Monday, December 2 with engineers who have previously expressed an interest in the engineers registration scheme. The forum discussed broad timelines for the registration scheme introduction in Victoria and how the coming public consultation provides the opportunity to be involved. A video of the forum will be available to view at Engage Victoria.

Coming public consultation

In the first half of 2020, the engineering sector and Victorian public will be able to engage directly at consultation forums and provide their feedback online on the proposed regulations for the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019.

Consumer Affairs Victoria will use the feedback received during the consultation process to help draft the regulations and the supporting Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS). The RIS assesses the costs and benefits of the regulations, and will be available to the community for comment as part of the consultation process.

Information about the registration scheme, as well as broad consultation timelines are available on the Engage Victoria website. Consumer Affairs Victoria will provide more details on the dates of the consultations in 2020.

Countdown to registration

The Victorian Parliament passed the Professional Engineers Registration Bill 2019 in August 2019.

The Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019 will require engineers who provide professional services, or who export professional engineering services from Victoria, to be registered.

The Victorian Professional Registration scheme will start on July 1, 2021.

The scheme will begin by registering civil, structural, fire safety, electrical and mechanical engineers. It has been designed to be extended over time to include other areas of engineering.

The co-regulator model of registration will incorporate assessment entities approved by the Business Licensing Authority (BLA). This could include organisations such as AIRAH, through its national ARPEng program. Consumer Affairs Victoria and the Victorian Building Authority will support the BLA.

It is estimated that the BLA will register about 28,000 Victorian engineers over the first three years.

Staying updated

Information on the scheme’s progress is available at Engage Victoria. This will be updated regularly and provide more details on the dates of the consultations in 2020.

You can also subscribe to receive Professional Engineers Registration Scheme updates.