Jane MacMaster, Chief Engineer and Damian Ogden, Group Executive Policy and Public Affairs met with The Hon. Anoulack Chanthivong MP, recently appointed Minister for Building, Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology. They focused on important issues affecting engineers across the state including registration, building sector reform, professional indemnity insurance and practice standards.

The discussion builds upon Engineers Australia’s long-standing commitment to be a strong advocate with policy makers on behalf of members and the profession. Engineers Australia will continue to work with the Minister toward better outcomes for engineers, for building standards, for the community and for the state.

Group Executive Policy and Public Affairs, Damian Ogden said Engineers Australia’s priorities are to build a strong working relationship with the NSW Government and work collaboratively with the Government and other stakeholders to improve building standards.

“The meeting provided an important opportunity for Engineers Australia to continue to advocate directly to the Minister the issues our members have raised with us in NSW – registration, building sector reform, professional indemnity insurance and practice standards,” Mr Ogden said.

“We were delighted with the Minister’s strong interest in the engineering sector and commitment to continue working together to ensure positive outcomes for the sector and in turn our state.”

Chief Engineer, Jane MacMaster said Engineers Australia has long advocated for a nationally consistent approach to the registration of engineers.

“We highlighted to the Minister the differences between NSW’s registration approach and other state’s schemes,” Ms MacMaster said.

“We raised the benefits to NSW engineers of the NSW Government establishing a stand-alone Professional Engineers Registration Act, similar to other states and those Acts that exist for other professions. This approach would allow for greater mobility of engineering and engineering work across jurisdictions and support the delivery of a nationally consistent approach to engineering registration which is a critical enabler for boosting productivity of the engineering workforce.”

Engineers Australia looks forward to further discussions with both the Minister and the NSW Government. We will keep working with them to ensure the engineering profession continues to thrive, not just in NSW but across Australia.