Ministerial Statement

OCCUPATIONAL LICENCES

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:19): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I received a number of complaints at the end of February 2012 regarding the delays in the issuing of trades licences by Consumer and Business Services. This was of great concern to me and I requested an immediate review to identify ways to reduce the backlog. Dr Dale Cooper of Broadleaf Capital International was engaged to report on the issues.

Dr Cooper's report identified a number of concerning problems, including issues affecting the staffing of the occupational licensing function in CBS. In particular, some of the staff felt the legislation was difficult to interpret and they were not confident about having to interpret it, probably because staff are relatively junior. Other problems identified were workloads were high, staff turnover was high, forward planning could be better and the computer systems needed to be updated.

Not surprisingly, the report also found that morale in this area could also be better, given the pressures they are clearly under. Some changes have already occurred to address these and other concerns raised in the report, but more work is clearly needed to ensure long-lasting, positive change to this important function of government.

Almost 50 recommendations for change have been identified as a result of the report and discussions with industry. A number have already been implemented and the remainder are being worked on. These range from simple process changes to internal policy changes, better staff recruitment and retention strategies, minor and major IT enhancements and options for legislative reform. In addition, CBS has created a process improvement project team in occupational licensing to identify further improvements and to implement initiatives identified in the report.

On 2 April this year, I chaired a roundtable meeting with industry groups and, following that session, they were invited to provide submissions with suggestions for improvement. This was well received and proved a useful forum for me to hear the perspectives of the affected industries.

In the financial year 2010-11, the Licensing and Registration section of CBS received and processed 7,559 new licence applications and 49,844 renewals. Since early March 2012, CBS has worked hard to clear the backlog of applications. Processing times have been reduced, along with red tape.

I am advised that, from 20 February to 1 June, a total of 2,138 applications were finalised by CBS and the number of applications on hand at any one time has been reduced from more than 1,200 to just over 400. I am advised that these improvements have led to a reduction in complaints and better staff morale. Some of the initiatives implemented so far include:

increasing delegations to ensure staff are able to approve applications;

granting licences under mutual recognition on the basis that CBS is satisfied that the applicant is appropriately licensed interstate;

development of a simplified renewal document;

simplified reporting of qualifications from TAFE;

an online system for licence renewals developed in-house; and

an online application process to allow applicants to complete forms at home.

Initiatives being worked on to assist the staff in processing applications include:

working with the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology to identify opportunities for information sharing about apprentices between DFEEST and CBS;

development of an application guide to assist applicants through the process, including encouraging greater understanding of licence requirements;

IT changes to allow applications to be approved at the counter;

ongoing process reviews for each licence type;

restructure of the licensing area of CBS to assist with staff retention and development; and

a suite of legislative reforms to improve processes and reduce red tape, including granting greater discretion to the commissioner.

The safety of tradespeople and the public is paramount and the consequences of licensing an unqualified person could be disastrous, particularly in the building, plumbing, gasfitting and electrical trades. However, it is very clear to me that we need to ensure the system is working efficiently so that backlogs and delays do not occur in the future.

Dr Cooper's report shows that achieving this will require significant internal process and management changes outlined in this statement. In the coming months, I will be reconvening the industry round table to report back on these issues and finalise a discussion paper on the way ahead. This discussion paper will include proposals for legislative change.