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| Ms LAWRIE (Planning and Lands): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act confirmed by declaration, the application of that act since 1 January 2001, and to validate the performance of functions and the exercise of powers under the act since that time. The Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act commenced in 1983 and relies on the Water Supply and Sewerage Act for its application. On 1 January 2001, the Water Supply and Sewerage Act was repealed and replaced by the Water Supply and Sewerage Services Act. Recent legal advice is that the jurisdiction of the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act is unclear due to the repeal of the Water Supply and Sewerage Act. The bill, when passed, will place the jurisdiction of the act beyond doubt and give certainty to the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Board, the plumbing industry, and the community. The bill removes all references to the repealed Water Supply and Sewerage Act, and has a new application provision that does not refer to another act. The sewerage districts, water districts, sewered areas, and water supply areas declared under the repealed Water Supply and Sewerage Act, to which the existing application section refers, have evolved between 1983 and 2000. The declarations of the districts and areas during this period appear in numerous gazette notices by technical descriptions using a combination of lot numbers, areas, points, bearings, and lengths. The bill has a provision that declares that these districts and areas continue to apply on 1 January 2001. The bill defines these districts and areas as ‘relevant areas’. These relevant areas will apply during a prescribed period, the prescribed period is from 1 January 2001 to the commencement of the proposed amendment act. Therefore, new declarations will be required concurrent with the commencement of the proposed amendment act. The distinctions between water and sewerage districts and areas are not required for the purposes of the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act. Accordingly, the bill introduces a new term, ‘plumbing licence area’. The new application provision applies the act to plumbing licence areas. The bill provides for the minister to declare plumbing licence areas by gazette notice. The bill also provides that a plumbing licence area may be defined on a map or plan. Current practice in similar cases, for example, building areas and planning scheme zones, is to use compiled plans prepared by the Surveyor-General which have legal status. This provides a product that is more readable and better understood by the user, and is more efficient as a record of the facts, particularly for recording amendments. The compiled plans for the proposed plumbing licence areas are based on the districts and areas as defined by the numerous technical descriptions in gazettes before 31 December 2000. The end result will be clear plans that define the application of the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act. Provisions in the act refer to inspectors and approvals that no longer exist due to the commencement of the private certification under the Building Act in 1993. At that time, the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act was not amended to reflect these changes. Accordingly, these provisions have been updated in the bill to reflect current practice. The bill provides for Authorised Officers and defines them by reference to the Building Act. Authorised Officers will carry out functions, such as audit and investigation, that remain the role of the Building Advisory Services Branch in the Department of Planning and Infrastructure after private certification commenced. The opportunity has been taken to make other minor changes on advice from Parliamentary Council. These changes relate to current drafting practices and include changes in numbering style, changes from penalty to maximum penalty, change of the reference act in the definition of apprentice and changes to section 43 to confine it to work carried out under the act. However, there are several significant policy issues relating to plumbing regulation in the Territory that need to be addressed in the future. A full review in due course is proposed. Such a review will provide an opportunity to address policy and operational concerns for the act and to examine the Plumbing Licence Areas in light of the Building Areas declared under the Building Act. In the meantime, this bill preserves the status quo and provides the legal certainty industry and the community requires. Industry and the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Board have continued to operate on the assumption that there is jurisdiction and no persons have been prosecuted during the time of uncertainty. I commend this bill to honourable members and I table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill. Debate adjourned. |