Mutual recognition for occupational licences in Australia
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From February 2007, new arrangements have been put in place making
it easier for licensed tradespeople, and authorities that issue licences,
to know what licence a worker is entitled to when applying for a licence in another jurisdiction.
The new arrangements cover licences issued to:
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This website allows the user to look up a licence entitlement in another state or
territory, based on the currently-held licence. The website also has information on who
to contact to apply for a licence. Workers need to apply to the relevant authority, hold a
current valid licence, and pay a licence fee, but the new arrangements give certainty to
most applicants about what licence will be issued. When they search on this website, some
licence-holders will find that ‘no equivalent licence’ is stated. In these cases, workers
can still apply for individual assessment as they have always been able to do.
The new arrangements are the result of states, territories and the Commonwealth working
together through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to improve the system of
mutual recognition. As work continues, additional vocationally-trained, licensed occupations
will be included on this website.
A Users' Guide to the Mutual Recognition Agreement and Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement is available
on the COAG Mutual Recognition website. Click on the link on the left side of this page and then click on
"Users’ Guide to the Mutual Recognition Agreement and Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement"
Evaluation report available:
An evaluation of the outcomes of COAG's recommendations on full and effective mutual recognition of
occupational licences across Australia was undertaken by the Allen Consulting Group for the COAG
Skills Recognition Steering Committee.
The report of the evaluation and the Steering Committee's
response are available here.