Mutual Recognition (South Australia) (Further Adoption) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 26 August 2021.)

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (16:19): I rise to speak on this bill and indicate I will be the lead speaker for the opposition. This bill seeks to implement legislative amendments to support a national scheme for the automatic mutual recognition of licences, consistent with the government's obligations under the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Automatic Mutual Recognition of Occupational Registration.

In June 2021, the commonwealth parliament passed amendments to the Mutual Recognition Amendment Act (the commonwealth act), introducing a uniform scheme of automatic mutual recognition to enable an individual registered for an occupation in their home state to be taken to be registered to carry on in a second state the activities covered by their home state legislation.

The argument for such a scheme is that it will increase the strength and resilience of our economy by reducing time and cost for Australians to take up jobs wherever they may arise around the nation. It will create, the argument says, a more mobile labour force and allow skilled workers a cross-jurisdiction ability to work. Whilst labour force mobility can be positive, there are also some concerns about whether skilled workers are flown from interstate to South Australia to complete work that could be done by a South Australian.

The Treasurer mentioned in the second reading that this will also allow more businesses to bid for work in other states, which on one side of the coin is positive for our state but also concerning if this means that more interstate companies will be competing for South Australian government contracts. I understand the Australian government, in collaboration with state and territory governments, developed a uniform automatic recognition scheme through consultation and engagement with industry, trade unions and regulators.

Mutual recognition, under the existing national scheme, provides an entitlement for registered workers to be registered for an equivalent occupation in another jurisdiction on the basis of the existing registration without further assessment of their qualifications. This has been operating in South Australia since its introduction in 1992 and is covered by the Mutual Recognition (South Australia) Act 1993.

Safeguards in the national scheme have been included to ensure the community, the environment, animals and workers are protected. Workers who come to South Australia will be required to comply with our laws, with any conditions a person has on their home state registration also applying here unless waived by the local registration authority. We are informed the uniform scheme enables a state minister to exempt a registration in their state from being subject to automatic mutual recognition for a renewable period of up to five years because of a significant risk to consumer protection, the environment, animal welfare or worker or public health and safety.

This scheme commenced, we are told, on 1 July 2021 in Victoria, New South Wales, the ACT and the NT. We will be supporting the passage of this bill, but I inform the government that we will have some questions particularly around the mutual recognition of teachers.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:22): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his indication of support for the second reading.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clause 1.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: This is probably best done at clause 1. As I said in part of my second reading contribution, I will have a couple of questions particularly about mutual recognition in the teaching profession. I am wondering, in the consultation the government undertook on this bill, were any teaching organisations in South Australia supportive of the proposed changes?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: This was an issue that was discussed at a number of levels; in particular, the ministerial council that covers the education ministers discussed this. My understanding and my advice is that they supported the position that we are going to adopt, that is, under the provisions of the bill a five-year exemption before these particular provisions would operate in the teaching profession.

I am advised that the Teachers Registration Board in South Australia, which as the leader would know is a representative body that has union representatives—I think principal representatives and other representatives, departmental representatives—on that board, also supported the view that they believed under the provisions of the bill there should be a five-year exemption period. I am proposing to follow that particular course in relation to the teaching profession.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I thank the Treasurer for the information. I am wondering in particular in relation to not the five-year implementation period but the concept of mutual recognition of teachers what the specific views were of the Teachers Registration Board, the Australian Education Union and the Association of Independent Schools.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I can speak specifically in relation to the ministerial council and the Teachers Registration Board, which does include representation of the teachers union. I do not know directly what the attitude of the teachers union would be, but I would be surprised if it was anything different. That is, the position of the Teachers Registration Board, I am advised, and the ministerial council was that they supported the notion of mutual recognition for the teaching profession; however, they believed there were issues that needed to be resolved that would require the five-year exemption period.

So they were not opposing the principle that at the end of the five-year period we should be in a position to have mutual recognition, but there were a number of specific issues which needed to be worked through with our Teachers Registration Board and their equivalents in the other jurisdictions, and our ministers for education at the ministerial council meeting adopted that position, so I am advised.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Has the government received any advice or submissions or concerns that teacher standards in SA could drop under the provisions of this bill once it is fully implemented?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I am advised that, no, we have not. Certainly, the discussions I have had at the Board of Treasurers and at CFFR (Council on Federal Financial Relations), where this was discussed and which involves the federal Treasurer and which has driven this particular mutual recognition process, were that the treasurers from across the nation were not expressing those sorts of views and our advice and understanding was that neither were their ministerial colleagues, the ministers for education. They were essentially accepting that the principle made sense but that there may well be differences between the jurisdictions which needed to be worked through, and they would need to be worked through over this five-year exemption period.

Clause passed.

Remaining clauses (2 to 5) and title passed.

Bill reported without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:29): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.